Lugubrious

World of Light

hello! This still open?

@darkred

It certainly is! Been a little while, hasn't it? I'm glad to report that our merry band of rockstars is forging onward as industriously as ever. How're things on your end?

Infactorium: A New 4Xpansion (Overlord RP) [DISCONTINUED]

With the personnel of the Gorging Trough wholly fixated on their new mission, the days seemed to go by very fast indeed. Of course, that wasn't to say they went off without a hitch. Every day Mae applied herself to the construction of her new floor for hours and hours on end, and though the creative tools supplied to her meant that she could simply skip the otherwise egregious amount of effort it would take to manually throw up all these rooms and obstacles, realizing her vision turned out to be anything but easy. She went in with a brilliant mental image of what she wanted the Full Course to be, complete with all the scintillating suggestions of her Maneater understudies, but translating those ideas to physical space was an altogether different beast.

The headless horror found herself in a constant and frustrating loop of instantiation, second-guessing, and readjustment. Chambers wouldn't line up right, or they'd end up overlapping, and her attempts to patch things up would mess with the overall cohesion and flow. When things felt to sloppy, she'd start over, fiddling with this or that room's layout. Forget solving puzzles--making one was the real challenge. Mae's every movement was burdened under the weight of her own expectations. As the final line of defense before Lady Fatalis herself, her domain needed to be airtight. But how could she account for every possibility? Even when she finally had a particular Course the way she wanted it, the moment she brought in a few Maneaters to test it they would inevitably turn up some sort of loophole, shortcut, or flaw that needed to be addressed, which sometimes demanded another total redo. Mae could only groan and try again.

Progress was slow, hampered further by the range limits of her blindsight that prevented her getting a clear picture of the whole thing, and very often she bemoaned the fact that she'd started without an actual plan in mind. Then again, without any architectural skill or experience, she didn't even possess the faculties to make a proper plan in the first place. Whenever she made real progress and the tests turned out well, Mae locked the corresponding Course down, refusing to re-evaluate or change it further, even if it made future courses harder to work around. The results spoke for themselves. By the end of the week, her illustrious food-themed Full Course was only just over half done. She couldn't even be happy with that, though; how could she account for all possible the abilities and skills that any enemies challenging her floor might have? They might possess invisibility, or flight, or the power to control water or earth, all of which would be disastrous.

Her Maneaters, meanwhile, were having troubles of their own. With their classes decided upon they began the task of training in order to develop their abilities and be more able to fight, both as the minibosses of the Full Course and just in general. Unfortunately, with no actual instructors available in Infactorium for any of their desired classes, let alone all of them, they possessed frightfully little to go on. Using the guides and records available in the guild's files they tried to figure out the rudimentary weapons provided by Cormac, but even the goal of 'not incompetent' seemed awfully far off. While their battles would inevitably involve them casting aside their classes to fight with their natural ability as Maneaters, the prospect of having a joke for a first phase left all of them discouraged to varying degrees.

At the end of the week, Mae -the tired and unhappy head of a tired and unhappy group- attended the Emergency Meeting glad for a change of pace. Even then, however, she ended up being out of her depth. "That big honkin' monster, huh?" She scratched as the back of her neck. "I dunno a great way to take care o' that thing, to be honest with y'all. Couldn't even see the durn thing 'cause o' my vision, but the others filled me in. Even if I could see it, I couldn't fight it, though. Just too dang slow." She gave a long, guttural sigh. "Maybe if I fixed somethin' real nice for it, it'd be happy enough with us to go away if asked? Or...I don't see any reason why Five-Course Meal wouldn't work on it, but if that varmint catches wind of what-all I'm tryin' to pull, my goose is cooked."

Infactorium: A New 4Xpansion (Overlord RP) [DISCONTINUED]

I ought to be posting soon as well, sorry.

World of Light

Ms Fortune

Location: Eryth Sea
Level 9 Nadia (61/90)
Koopa Troop’s @DracoLunaris, Blazermate and Susie’s @Archmage MC, Geralt’s @MULTI_MEDIA_MAN, Ace Cadet and Pit’s @Yankee, Sakura and Karin’s @Zoey Boey, Rubick’s @Scarifar, Omori’s @Majoras End, Nadia Fortune
Word Count: 2481

No amount of torrential rainfall or murky, overcast skies could dampen Nadia’s mood as she sailed forth across the Eryth Sea. The thrill of setting off on a brand new journey, literally surrounded by her friends, left her beaming almost as brightly as the morning sun before the storm clouds rolled in to swallow it up. In some ways it made her feel like a kid again, bravely sallying forth into the unknown in search of the day’s adventures, and in others she felt like a badass, rolling out with a crew of awesome professionals to get the job done. It was a thrill that quickened her heart two days ago as the Azur Navy sailed north to Blackwater Bay, even though she knew that a brutal naval war awaited her there. It was a feeling she’d sorely missed ever since her last crew departed on their final voyage to parts unknown, convincing her for a time that she could never hurt so badly again so long as she worked alone.

Luckily, such thoughts were very far away, and for the moment Nadia lived wholly in the present. Once she cleverly used her Feral ability to harden her hair, her bob cut kept the water from stinging her eyes, allowing her to keep her head up and track her fellow Seekers of Light as they went along. Much to Nadia’s surprise in particular, owing to her loose familiarity with seafaring, her oddly-shaped rowboat handled like a dream. It less pushed through the water than slid across it, or so it seemed, demanded only low effort to build up speed, and weirdest of all, kept itself remarkably upright despite the choppy surface of the sea. That blocky man really knew his stuff! that, or he and his creations simply worked with a set of physics very different to the one Nadia knew and loved.

After emerging from inside the Alcamoth vehicle bay in a big clump so tightly packed that the wooden boats might have just as well been bumper cars, the group spread out across the water. Without any real formation in mind, they stuck together in twos and threes as they made their way eastward. Bowser, atop his white whale-monster, took up a central position in the heroes’ flotilla with his loyal Troop as escort. Peach skated across the waves beneath the shelter of her parasol. With his souped-up stamina Geralt rowed almost as well as he ran, which was to say, a lot better than Nadia expected. The street fighters bent all their strongest muscles to the task, including their hearts, and cruised right along. Finally, Omori, Pit, and Rubick brought up the rear, the magus being carried by his own versions of Kamek’s Toadies.

The fliers got the chance to stretch their proverbial wings as well, although Nadia worried a little about Susie with that wimpy-looking Transporter. If the pouring rain or buffeting wind got to be too much, the pink-haired robot might find herself in the drink and wishing she took a boat to begin with. At least if Nadia capsized, she could trust in Ace to bail her out. She’d taken him up on his offer earlier, but truth be told she did not relish a piggy-back ride even on his brawny shoulders. While she might not be the most mature person around, Nadia wanted to think she had a little dignity. Never mind that she was soaking wet from the rain. The feral zipped up her jumpsuit and rowed on.

After just a couple blissfully uneventful minutes, the journey across the inland ocean began to get a little interesting. Sakura and Karin stumbled upon a big green patch of kelp, buoyed upward from their anchorage points on the sea floor by gas-filled sacs to gather in a massive carpet on the surface. The pair got bogged down there for a moment or two, but it didn’t look like anything serious, so Nadia continued. At least the rain wouldn’t feel cold to Sakura now that she’d been underwater. Things like the kelp forests or the lilypad islands were easy to avoid without ever realizing the beauty that lay below. By now everyone had spread out enough that they’d begun to have their own little encounters, be they with the creatures of Eryth Sea or the environment itself.

Despite the mild level of wind overall, a handful of cyclones descended across the water, traveling erratically along the surface. Each whirlwind harbored a minor suction effect, and if it happened to pull one of the travelers in, it would spin the hapless hero around before launching him or her hundreds of feet up into the rainy sky. Even then, however, Steve’s uncanny rowboats would not be destroyed, but would splash bottom-down into the seawater before bobbing to the surface. Thanks to her improvised helmet, though, Nadia could see her coming, and despite one close call she managed to steer clear.

In a similar vein were the water spouts, perhaps the products of underwater geysers. In areas with golden coins afloat on the surface and flush with bright red Cheep Cheeps, spumes of water suddenly burst up from below, carrying anyone in the area on top of them. Though harmless for the most part, anyone who got lifted up while going too fast could be sent flying through the air, and hitting one of the protruding mushroom trees nearby at that speed didn’t sound fun. Sometimes a spout brought up a giant purple pufferfish with it, whose immense bulk and vivid spikes looked more than capable of reducing a boat to a pile of sticks. “Yeah, fluff that,” Nadia muttered, and she went out of her way to give the whole affair a wide berth.

While looking overboard for puffers, Nadia did spot something else that looked interesting. A rather alluring specimen sat on a raised pillar of rock not too far below the surface, with five glowing lights around the formation. Four of them would render the valuable, highly-pressurized fleshy orbs known as Hadal Cores, but if a looter chose wrong, an abyssal horror would lunge from its hiding place to snap up its prey. Farther off still, Nadia could see more lights in the depths of the Eryth Sea, but of these she couldn’t make out the most fragmentary detail. Though that submerged luminescence did ignite her curiosity, she couldn’t see underwater and she didn’t want to risk losing her boat if she went under, so she pressed on, never knowing the horror just beneath her, or the wonder further down.

As she tried to make out underwater shapes through the ripples of rainfall on the surface, thoroughly distracted, disaster struck. From beneath the other side of her boat emerged a gargantuan Serprond, so vast that its three-section maw only failed to devour Nadia’s boat because the water it displaced washed her away. Taken completely by surprise and mere inches away from being eaten, the feral collapsed in her boat, paralyzed by primal, gut-wrenching terror. She cowered, her heart just about stopped, as the colossal sea monster passed by, flying into the air to hang over the ocean like a six-eyed zeppelin. It took a moment for her to start breathing again, at which point she clutched at her chest, trying to dull the agony. “...Fuck,” she gasped, fighting to calm her pounding heart. The Serprond soared away at a leisurely pace, unbothered by the insignificant creature it left behind. Had it even been going for her? In Nadia’s mind, absolutely. “It almost got me…it almost ate me…”

Though frightened within an inch of her life, and her lifespan potentially shortened as a result, she thanked whoever came to check on her. “I’m fine. I think?” Nadia wiped a mixture of rain and tears from her eyes. “Go-lly. I didn’t know I could be that scared. For a second…it was like I was back there. On the Maw.” Despite her new phobia, she was still one tough customer, and she composed herself soon enough. “Better get a move on before it’s friends shop up. God…”

Nadia started rowing again, this time with a vengeance. In no time she approached the river that led through the mountains, the water growing shallower on the way. She spotted a few little turtle guys playing with bubbles by some coral shacks among the shoals, but her attempt to find joy in their antics had mixed results because the little ones’ lifeguard watched over them with a sniper rifle in hand. After that her attention lay mostly on the cove that sat at the border of ocean and river, mostly due to the giant stone skull that sat among a forest of spiky crags, complete with glowing red eyes. The whole place was a ship graveyard, piled high with the guttered husks of different vessels. “Whoa,” she marveled, admittedly a little intimidated. “This is some crazy ship.”

Getting through there in one piece demanded that the Seekers slow down and mind their corners. In addition to a head-on collision with one of the rock spires, they needed to worry about running afoul of the wreckage. Looking at it from a different angle, however, the Kove might as well be a wooden playground of masts, sails, decks, overturned hulls, and makeshift rafts of floating debris. Some booty could still be found in the barrels and chests scattered throughout, from provisions like salted pork and bananas that could be eaten underwater, to handy gear like ropes, candles, shovels, and buckets, which would be useful when it came to getting water out of boats. Only one ship seemed to be relatively intact: the Adrian, a midnight-black pirate vessel of fearsome aspect. Its main cabin was well-furnished, with a treasure map and quality spyglass resting on the desk, and in its hold dwelled the piratical monstrosity Cortez, standing watch over a heap of glittering treasure.

Reasoning that anything big enough to eat her couldn’t be hiding in such shallow, cluttered waters, Nadia stopped her boat by one half-wreck to see what sort of loot she could expect from the place. Nothing really struck her fancy that she could carry in her pockets, though she did take a bucket to put in her boat for bail, and after finding a small keg labeled ‘fresh water’ she took that too. No telling how long the team might be out on the ocean, after all. Except, this was empty. Figures. For a moment she stood there, wondering if the Eryth Sea was fresh or saltwater, since it apparently sat upstream of the real ocean. Well, she knew better than to test! If she took this keg, she could gather some rain water, at least. As Nadia turned to go, she spotted one other thing. A humble hurdy-gurdy of wood and metal. Her idle thoughts about instruments from the other day flashed in her mind, and her mouth curled into a 3 shape. “Well now…can’t just leave you to rust there forever, can I?” She retrieved the instrument, and returned to the boat.

A little farther and she passed the skull rock, putting her at the mouth of the river. When she became aware of an increasingly strong flow she pulled over to the pebbly beach, ran aground, and jogged a short way to the start of the riverbank. Sure enough, there were rapids. The whole thing looked like a sequence of small, foamy cataracts, two or three at a time, interspersed by winding sections of river with a fast-moving current. “Honestly, it looks really fun,” she said aloud, and not just because of the excitement in store.

A salmon migration was in progress before her eyes. The colorful fish were making their way upstream to the Eryth Sea in droves, leaping up the rapids in a living barrage of salmon. Nadia pictured her friends trying to sail downstream in them and getting smacked by fish after ten-pound fish, which sounded very funny. That it’d happen to her too she didn’t doubt, but she could think of worse things to be slapped in the face with than lunch. Of course, nothing complimented a fish frenzy better than hungry bears, and from where Nadia was standing the bears had come out in force. She saw normal -albeit fearsome- grizzlies, yellow-ringed bears with their cubs, one in a flannel shirt, white ones with big heads, a number of more timid black bears, and one very big Runebear sleeping up on a ledge after filling his belly, and who else but Banjo and Kazooie arguing beneath a tree.

Nadia did a double take. “Oh, hey!” She waved to Banjo, who waved back, both of them irrespective of Kazooie. “How’s it going?”

“Good!” the bear declared. “We were just grabbing some fish when it started to rain, and now we’re talking about where to go next. I was thinking of Spiral Mountain.”

“All these new places to go, and this knucklehead wants to go back home,” Kazooie said, rolling her eyes. “What about you all?”

“Down to the ocean,” Peach called, having drawn her boat to the top of the river as well. “We’re going to meet our friends in Twilight Town.”

Kazooie snickered. “Hah, good luck with that! This river’s like a theme park ride!”

“Ooh, really!?” Nadia’s eyes shone. “Now I’m excited!”

The bird rolled her eyes again in resignation. “Oh, I should’ve known.”

Once everyone got through the Kove, all the Seekers could do was to row their boats to the top of the first cataract, say any pertinent prayers, and take the plunge.

Nyakuza Metro

Level 10 Tora (56/110) Level 10 Poppi (56/110) Level 7 Big Band (73/70)
Bede’s @Crimson Flame, Tora, Poppi, Vandham, Big Band, Peacock
Word Count: 445 / 2144

With no further business in this place now that their plan had proceeded to stage two, Band’s party waited inside the visitor center until finally a cat dragged in another train. They boarded it to head back to the Metro hub, leaving the dense jungle, steaming marshland, and bizarre creatures of the Aviary Biodome behind. Of course, before cycling back to where it all started, the Black Line subway would pass through two more stops, which according to the electronic thickers in his car were Gutsford and Rapture. Though the detective stayed put both times he did peer out the window for a sneak peek at the location in quest, in case he or the others returned later on.

Judging from the station at least, the place called Gutsford looked rather ordinary. Band saw brick walls, a cement floor, metal benches, trash cans and litter, and vendor booths where they sold drinks, snacks, and cigarettes. Nothing special could be said about the people who milled about, other than most of those not working for the station itself seemed to be about college-age. Since it lacked the size or grandeur of a New Meridian train station, Band’s intuition told him that this establishment might belong to a medium-sized town or small city, nothing too fancy. By all appearances it seemed to be a slice of relative normalcy in this absurd, topsy-turvy world.

At the final stop, however, things got weird again. When the train pulled up to the platform at Rapture, it took Band a moment to become aware of what was wrong. At first the Atlantic Express Depot seemed relatively normal, a little dark, a little confined, perhaps. The other trains seemed more like monorails, with large, yellow-windowed cars that hung beneath their metal rails. Only after he noticed that the windows featured a lot more reinforcement girders than normal did he realize that on the other side of the glass lay a glowing city in the depths of the sea, where whales wandered around the towering pinnacles like blimps and schools of fish replaced the pigeons who flocked around the windows and great neon signs. Even from inside the safety of the subway, two layers of glass and a dingy train station away from the ocean, Band was shaken to the core, and not just by the sheer impossibility of such a place. More than that, he found himself struck by the seafloor city’s unmistakable Art Deco aesthetic, with its glitzy skyscrapers, luxurious materials, its vaguely abstract and geometric forms, the divided facades, the hierarchical floor plans, the lavish mix of styles. It wasn’t just fascinating–it was familiar. His eyes landed upon a casino with a vibrant pink crown, ornamented by the image of a crowned fish beneath a name that Band knew all too well. The River King. For a moment his breath caught in his throat, but then, as the train began to pull away, he deployed a mechanical arm to give Peacock an urgent nudge. “Pea, Pea, look! Just look!” Just before the view receded from sight, replaced by the black void of the Metro’s magic tunnels, the girl got a glimpse, and her eyes went wide. “Sure it’s underwater, and it ain’t exactly the same, but…it’s New Meridian.” Band sank down into his seat, trying to process the information. “It’s home.”

Not long after the two stepped out of the Black Line station into the open air of Nyakuza Metro. Band took a second to look around at the buildings of mortar and brick, and up to the dizzying heights where the black cats made their homes. He breathed in deeply. No more did the millions of tons of water hang over him, but he still felt the weight of what had become of that city. Of his city. That one sight tore open a hole in his focus on the mission and allowed a million questions to flood through him, like sea water through a rupture in a structurally unsound submarine. Was Lab 8 down there, at the bottom of an unknown ocean, with all the young ASG agents for whom he’d endeavored to be a father figure? Was the Medici Mafia ruling that underwater underworld? Did the Skullgirl lurk in those depths, amassing the bones of sea monsters and sailors? He needed to know. But he couldn’t go, not just yet. Benjamin Birdland had a job to do, and as always he would fulfill his duty.

When he and Peacock returned to the information kiosk that Yellow Team ended up using as a rendezvous point, they found a handful of allies already there, getting directions. Tora, Poppi, Vandham, and Bede had arrived on the Blue Line a little while ago, regaled the whole way over by the Pokemon Trainer’s fascinating tales about Pokemon–and of course, himself. The minute Tora spotted some friends -or more accurately, Poppi spotted them and then pointed them out to her Masterpon- he started bouncing up and down, waving his wings to get their attention. “Over here, meh!” he said, beckoning the cyborgs over. Vandham exchanged a brotherly nod with Band as the two groups met up, none of them seemingly any worse for wear, although Tora couldn’t help but notice one difference. “Why friend Band coat so icky-dirty?”

The detective stooped to get a look at his trench, noticed for the first time the mud that coated its hem and gave a grunt of annoyance. “We had to hoof it through a big-ass nature preserve, and there sure weren’t any hikin’ trails. Saw some real freaky critters, too.” He shrugged and raised an eyebrow at the others. “Where’d you folks end up?”

“We visit two spots on World of Light western coast,” Poppi replied. “One seaside town…”

“Hurt Tora poor eyes! Very strange overall!” Tora supplied.

“...And one port city,” the artificial blade finished. “Not get very good look at that one, but seem nice. Very pretty area, but city itself offend Poppi olfactory sensors.”

Vandham nodded. “Aha, I thought I caught a bad whiff of somethin’-or-other on the breeze. Little bit o’ low tide, little bit o’ industry, an’ a little bit o’ rot for good measure. You see those apartments up by the station, mates? Looked bloody infested. Flies the size o’ birds!” The big man shuddered. “If it were up to me, I’d burn the whole buildin’ to the ground, just to be sure.”

The Nopon made a face. “Meeeeh. Tora could not agree more. Hate fighting Skeeters back home most of all. Buggypons impossible to hit!”

Poppi tilted her head. “Well, since we team defender, it not matter if we hit them as long as we keep attention. Still, buzzing hurt Poppi processors, so Poppi exterminate whenever possible.”

“By the by, Bede here’s gonna be stickin’ with us for a bit.” Vandham patted the Pokemon Trainer on the shoulder. “‘E knows a thing or three about ‘is Pokemon, to be sure! Think he’ll be a fine addition to the team. Anyway, we just got done collectin’ some more o’ them crystal things. Pons, they’re called, yeah?” Vandham held up a handful to show the new arrivals. “Fixin’ to head over to the Mint Line station and roll on outta here.”

Peacock groaned, her hat comically deflating as her arms extended to drag the knuckles along the ground. “Ugh, I forgot about that.”

“We go on ahead then. See friends later!” Tora told them. He promptly began to waddle away in the direction that the helpful kiosk cats indicated, and after exchanging farewells, the others followed.

“Guess there’s nothin’ for it,” Band said after Tora’s group made tracks. Around him hustled and bustled the Nyakuza Metro, a scene of ever-present motion both down below and up above. Commuters and cats alike ran to catch their trains or busted their brains trying to figure out their connections, while those waiting for one to show -or already left behind by one they commiserated in small groups all around. On their first run through the place the Seekers cleaned out the nearby areas of all their loose pons, meaning Band and Peacock would have to be a bit more inventive. Hopefully the residential heights remained unplundered. “Ten apiece, by my count. You ain’t gonna make me do all the work this time, right Pea?”

After winding herself up again, his little friend cracked her knuckles. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Lest ya forget, I’m the gen-u-wine article .” She pulled out a magnifying glass, held it up to her face, and joined the detective in scanning the scenery, despite both of them knowing that her real eyes were on her arms . “Now, where’s a gal gotta go to score a little dough around here…?”

Her eyes landed on a jeweler at the end of the street–Le Félin. “Howsabout that one, chief?” she asked Band. “Place like that’s gotta have a buncha those macguffins. Shake ‘em down and we’ll be outta this joint in a minute flat.”

Band shook his head as he prepared to discourage her, but before he could say anything he paused. All of a sudden something felt…off. A strange sensation tickled him, making the hairs on the back of his neck rise, and a surge of paranoia flooded through him. Like he was being watched. To anyone else it might have been nothing more than a passing chill, but Band trusted his detective instincts. “Hmm…” he murmured, stalling for time. Covertly he looked around, and the more his eyes darted back and forth, the more he realized that he might be onto something. All around him, whether standing around talking, eating on a bench, or just passing by, the Metro cats were looking his way. They’d turned toward him and Peacock on instinct, and though most now made an effort to act casual, the direction they pointed their ears made one thing clear: that they were listening in. Most worrisome of all, it wasn’t just one or two, or a particular group, but almost all of them. It was as if he’d tripped some hidden alarm, and the whole feline populace was all ears.

“Hah,” he said after a moment. “You shouldn’ joke around like that, Pea. Someone might get the wrong idea. Let’s just check up top again, hm?” Before Peacock could protest he reached out and took hold of her, then blasted off into the Metro’s enclosed sky.

A few moments later they touched down on a rooftop, and Peacock squirmed free of his grasp. “Ey, what’s the big idea, ya goomba?”

“Ssh,” Band hushed her. “Mind what ya say around here, Pea. Just listen a moment. Earlier, I heard some cats talkin’ about the police ‘round here. Mentioned they have a deal with some ‘boss’ of theirs, scratchin’ her back long as she scratches theirs. Just now, when ya mentioned robbin’ that jewelry store, every cat in the vicinity suddenly got real interested in our conversation. I ain’t sayin’ anythin’ for sure just yet, but there might be a lot more to this place than meets the eye.”

Peacock gasped, her six arm-eyes sparkling. “You sayin’ there might be some kinda mob, old-timer? And they even got a fix in? Now we’ses talkin’!” She put on a nasty grin. “If it’s the Medicis…”

“Calm down, kid!” Band interrupted. “Look, there’s no way to know for sure, so don’t run off paintin’ the town red or whatever just yet. Besides, we got a job to do. Much as I hate to say it, this whole Guardians business is more important.”

“Says you.” Peacock told him. “Look, if there’s garbage business afoot, I gotta find out. Whether it’s the Medicis or just some kinda kitty-cat nyafia. We stuck together so far ‘cause it made sense, but we can work seperate too, right? I can check out this place, and that underwater joint too. Maybe even finger this region’s big bad for ya’s. Now that I know, I’ll be more careful, see? Ya know I can handle myself, and I ain’t exactly alone, either.” She raised her hat to reveal Avery, who cocked his shotgun before Peacock covered him again. “Whaddya say, partner?”

The detective took a deep breath, then put his hand on his little friend’s shoulder. “Well…I hate to admit it, but ya ain’t wrong, and I couldn’t stop ya even if I wanted to. If this is really what ya wanna do, then…good luck, Pea. Just promise me you’ll take care of yourself, will ya?”

“Soitenly!” Peacock smiled, her balled fists proudly on her hips. “I ain’t a gumshoe like you, but I’ll have this case cracked wide open before ya knows it, just wait and see!” A cane reached out from nowhere and abruptly snatched her out of existence, which by now was par for the course. “...Toodles!”

Her sudden departure left Band alone on the roof. He narrowed his eyes and looked around. “Just ten pons then, huh.” He spotted a line of them along the top of a big electronic billboard, and stomped off.

Twilight Town

Sectonia’s @Archmage MC, Wonder Red’s @TruthHurts22, the Scout

Despite the Scout’s claims, Sectonia immediately took a less-than-friendly attitude regarding the black-coated boy who’d come to investigate their arrival. Without so much as consulting the other members of the ‘we’ she employed in her pronouncement, she stated her intent to take Roxas in, as if she, the Scout, and Red constituted some authoritative force. At least she didn’t threaten him outright, but her chosen course sure shifted the tone of things, and any self-respecting dwarf wasn’t going to let himself get dragged into trouble.

“You wot?” he sputtered. “Hold on a tick, that ain’t what we’re s’posed to be doin’! This might not be obvious to a bug ‘oo doesn’t wear clothes, but people who where the same stuff ain’t necessarily affiliated!” Trying to understand her line of reasoning, however, led the Scout to the realization that Roxas’ coat did look rather familiar. “That jacket is rather similar to that blonde lass’s, I give you that, but…”

At that moment, Roxas made his move. He’d been talking to his own friend while the Scout chided Sectonia, and now he’d teleported up to the clock tower to get in the insect queen’s face, where he proceed to try to turn the interrogation around on her. Now the Scout, still on the ground, couldn’t quite hear what he was saying, but he doubted it’d be anything good. And with Red current out of his line of sight, it fell to the dwarf to try and mediate things. “Oh, bugger me,” he groaned, pulling out his grappling hook. “Why’s everythin’ always gotta be complicated. I like it better in the mines.”

A sheer surface with no foothold wouldn’t be feasible for him to climb, so he started looking for windows, or other buildings to use as stepping-stones. Where there was a will, there was a way, especially for an opportunistic Scout, but it would be a minute before he could get up there. And that might be too long.

Riverside Ridge

What started as a sprinkle beneath moody clouds soon became a terrific downpour from the heavenly heights, strong enough to leave any poor soul caught wandering haplessly in the wilderness totally soaked through, but it wasn’t a problem to those who came prepared. For now the rainfall just pattered against the pavilion awning set up earlier by the attendants, then washed down around its edges as curtains of water. It created a rather pleasant and relaxing ambiance, and though a little chilly up here on the bluffs that overlooked the winding canyon river between the enclosed Eryth Sea and the vast Sea of Serendipity, the two men who lounged beneath the awning found the conditions wholly acceptable. They sat in a semicircle upon velvet-lined armchairs, hauled out for just the occasion, silently sipping on freshly-brewed Moroccan Mint Tea as they waited for the empty third seat to be filled.

The taller of the two took a deep sip of the beverage he’d selected, and exhaled deeply. In addition to the classic spearmint, tempered with just a pinch of sugar, the pungence pennyroyal made for an exquisite flavor and aroma, deepened further by the mingling of wormwood, lemon verbena, and -in a twist of irony not lost on him- sage. Its warmth, comfort, and richness perfectly complemented the chill, seclusion, and starkness of this place, high above the white foam of the rapids and far from civilization, yet important nonetheless. A better set of circumstances to relax in he could not ask for, and though they did not blunt the anxiety or anger inside him, they certainly helped.

“Now isn’t this a rare delight,” he said aloud. These words were the first to be spoken since he exchanged greetings with his first guest upon his arrival, and like all his words he spoke them through a slight Indian accent. “Though one would typically smile upon cloudless blue skies, often do I find far greater satisfaction in murky, overcast days, with the low roar of such heavensent deluges as this so soothing in my ear.”

His guest merely grunted, then in his own British accent replied. “Hmph. If you like rain so much, you should pay the island east of the City a visit.”

“That so?” The gentleman stroked his chin. “Known for its rainstorms, is it? Perhaps I should.”

“Oh, aye. I happened to be near when two factions landed there, and stopped to watch them fight. It was a bloody stalemate, until the rains came. Pummeled both armies straight to death, eheheh!” the old man cackled.

Annoyed by the implication that he should off himself, the gentleman returned a strained smile as he adjusted his glasses. “...I see. That sounds a little strong, for my tastes.”

“Good morning, gentlemen,” a new voice came from behind them, accentuated by an odd, almost ghostly echo. They turned to see a third man as he removed his helmet, revealing a well-kept, dusty-brown beard and eyes masked in shadow. Taking a cup of tea in hand he seated himself in the empty chair. “I must render my thanks for your invitation,” he told his bespectacled host, looking down across the canyon. “You’ve selected a picturesque precipice, to be certain. Sequestered between mountains of archaic eminence, above a river that winds along with serpent-like suggestion. So stark a contrast it is with the tenebrous places where I while away my time. Though I have long tired of conventional extravagance, there is still solace to be found in the warmth of fine tea, and capable company. Like a campfire in the dead of night–a brief respite for primitive minds from the hellish abysses of our own making.”

“A fine morning to you as well, esteemed sir,” replied the organizer, his head bowed slightly in respect.

The elder grumbled and nudged the host with his foot in reproach. “And I thought your prose was purple, feh!”

“Now, now,” his target chided him, snickering at the grouch’s annoyance. “A little theatricality suits men in our position, does it not?”

“Suit yourself!” his guest told him curtly, before taking another swig of his tea. “Ugh. What I wouldn’t give for a cup of real English tea.”

For a moment the three sat in silence, staring out at the rain. Then the whiskered gentleman spoke again. “Though this does harken back, in a way not altogether unpleasant, to my vain days of luxuriant decadence, I am a busy man. Many matters of dire importance demand my attention, so despite your present circumstances, S, I do hope my entreaties do not fall upon deaf ears when I say, let us get to the point.”

The tall man he called S tugged at his soul patch in muted discomfort. “Ah, so you are aware, then? I hadn’t dared imagine that any of our cohort might bother keeping up with affairs so far beyond their purview. Then again, forbidden knowledge is and always has been your domain–as well as the reason I called upon you, half a world away.” His guest nodded to accept the praise, and S continued. “In that case, I shall cut short the preamble. Victory, however well-earned, has made our brotherhood interminably lax. I have ample reason to believe that a credible threat has arisen, and that it would be in our best interest to address the issue forthwith.”

“Poppycock,” the elder spat. “Credible threat, my foot. Do you even realize what you’re asking?”

The dark-eyed man, however, stroked his beard as he considered the suggestion. “How many?”

At that, the elder nearly choked on his tea. “What? Don’t tell me you’re taking this seriously, A.”

“Four,” the bespectacled man answered, his expression grave.

“Hmm.” A looked off into the rainy distance, putting his hands into his pockets. “...It has been some time since any upstarts amassed such a figure, I must confess, inconsequential as it may be.” His burning, soulless gaze turned back to S. “Graciously you’ve omitted another of your reasons for summoning me hence, for you doubtless know as well as I that one of said losses occurred within my territory. Some semblance of responsibility do I bear, and in that sense perhaps, we are already united.”

His host nodded, a well-practiced gesture that to him came as easily as breathing. “Truly, your reputation sells you short. If you’re amenable to my plan, then you must already know the request I would make of you. Though some -fools- regard you as a maddened eccentric, you hold sway over the others that I could never dream of. If you were to vouch for me, surely at least a handful would attend a meeting in the Theater.”

“So you can waste our time, again?” the elder derided him, extending a wrinkled, accusatory finger. “You’re always barking up some tree or another, S, and you know it. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you wanted there to be heroes. What makes this time any different?”

S furrowed his brows and crossed his legs. “This group is doing everything right. They’re going about their objective in a clear and focused manner, stockpiling power, resources, and allies as they go. Even split into multiple teams, they overcome every obstacle in their paths, recruiting additional members while sustaining a disturbing lack of casualties. They’re exploiting every flaw we’ve left in the system, and since we all seem content to sit back and enjoy ourselves, they’ve yet to even realize the existence of serious opposition, let alone face it.”

“Maybe if you two did a better job with your forces, these ‘heroes’ wouldn’t’ve toppled a couple Guardians on your watch,” his detractor sniffed, dismissing him with a flick of his hand.

“That is precisely what I’m advocating, O. Besides, you speak as if your own domain isn’t presently a smoking crater,” S told him coldly, trying to keep a level head. “All those monsters in your sandbox to toy around with, and you still couldn’t be bothered to actually stop our friends carving a warpath through the Dead Zone. Like it or not, our circumstances are one and the same. It’s why I called you. And why you came.”

The bearded gentleman turned his baleful stare toward the complainer. “It is undeniable that your damnable reclusivity leaves a great deal to be desired from someone in our position.”

O gained time by coughing. “A-at least my area's Guardian still stands, you imbeciles! And what about the others your heroes took down? Why are those our responsibility? Surely the blame lies with those closer to the action!”

“Their carelessness is what led to this mess. If not us, then who?” Gloved hands tented in front of his mouth, S stared down at the river. “Mayhaps this is another false alarm. But if it isn’t…with how things are, by the time we realize, it will be too late. Ever since the Ender Dragon fell, I’ve had someone on the inside. Alcamoth is no longer a solved problem. From there our friends’ campaign continues. They sail for Twilight Town to unite their disparate forces, whereupon they will make ample use of the Metro to spread all over the World of Light. Nowhere is safe so long as our own associates stand idle.”

The shadowy-faced man stood and strode over to the edge of the awning. He watched the convoy of waterbound dots in the distance, making its way across the Eryth Sea to the canyon river. Then A crossed his arms. “You’ve piqued my curiosity, S,” he intoned. “Before I spread the word, however, I would solicit one further thing from you. A demonstration is in order, I believe, to establish these miscreants as the credible threat you suppose them to be. Mariners and misfortune go hand in hand, as they say.”

“I grasp your meaning, and I agree,” the tall man replied. “The situation is ideal, with our friends grouped up out of their element, and vulnerable. It’s a win-win as well, for if I should triumph, the problem is moot, but if I should flounder, you will have all the proof you need. The only wrinkle is whether or not a sufficient force can be mustered from the Sea of Serendipity on such short notice, but rest assured that I shall pull out all the stops.”

“Sounds like you’d better hop to it, then,” O snapped.

Eyebrow raised, S turned his head the old man’s way, sarcasm in his voice. “Pardon me, but is that encouragement I hear? For a minute there I could have sworn you didn’t believe me?”

“I do not,” the old man huffed. “But if you’re doing this, you had better not hold back just to prove your point. Whatever paltry reputation you have is on the line, understand?”

“Reawaken within them the odious memories of acrid gunsmoke and the concussive report of cannonades,” A implored. “With the weapons of war measure in blood the price of hope in this world. In our world, from which no woebegotten sufferer, tossing and turning in the throes of eternal nightmare, might ever awaken.”

S nodded once more. When he lifted his head, he wore a helmet, the same pinkish-red, white, and gray as the rest of his suit. “I’m on my way.” Then, in a purple flash, he disappeared, and a moment later only the rains drowned out the silence once more.

World of Light

The Chalk Prince, the Skullgirl, and Frisk

Frisk’s @Majoras End

Through the freezing darkness the escapees plunged, with the skeletal Spheal and the Prisoner along for the ride. Even if the viral blob couldn't move all that well without a body to call his own, he could roll downhill like nobody's business, and with the Fellflower's final avalanche threatening to crush anything in its path, roll he did. Linkle led the way, holding high her makeshift torch of bone that shone with a ghostly blue flame. Behind the agile archer sprinted Albedo, his golden Geo vision but dim in comparison, and Frisk followed right behind. As they plowed back down through the cave, the goblins -agitated by the chaos- let loose volleys of red-hot solar energy from their Slap Rifles, but though they coordinated their fire they could not lead their shots well enough to catch up with the runners. Instead their bolts created an incendiary crossfire in the darkness of Starglow Cave, like fireworks in the night. The squads of squawking machines kept at it even as the tide of stone and snow swallowed them up, and only when their targets finally disappeared into the tunnel did the survivors' onslaught cease.

With whatever hearts they had pounding, the trio sped through the tunnel, charged past the shattered remains of the impostor's blockage and burst back out into the moonlight of a wintry Dragonspine night. Though the avalanche had long since ceased to be a threat by now, none of them paused at the tunnel's mouth, but instead piled onto Linkle's sled, ready and waiting. As perilous as the mountain after dark might be, it was all downhill from here, and soon they were hurtling down the snowy slopes. While Albedo carried the torch, Linkle worked to steer the sled past obstacles and around the rocky bends of the downward path, using her cryomancy beneath the sled's tracks to turn it this way and that. The wind whipped at their hair and clothes the whole way, tearing the breath from their lungs, and by the time the sled finally crashed into a massive snowbank at the edge of an icy river, everyone was red in the face and numb--save for those who lacked blood or feeling to begin with.

Once Albedo extracted himself from the drift, he found himself in quite the magical place. The frosty boughs of the trees around here, tall and thin, glowed with a soft yellow light, and even the spiky flowers that grew in clusters from the frozen soil cast a dull, pale radiance, like the winter sun. Azure crystals provided even more light that reflected beautifully off the surface of the brook, and the alchemist couldn't see any monsters or other immediate threats in their light. "Is everyone okay?" he asked the others.

"I'm great!" Linkle exclaimed, not even feeling the powder on her hair, rabbit ears, or face. "What a ride!"

Once everyone was accounted for, Albedo received a sigh of relief. "I'm glad you made it, Frisk. Though I regret that your traveling companion did not, whose spirit I imagine is the reason for your altered physique." He bowed his head in sadness, and took a deep breath. When he exhaled it came out as a long puff of white mist. "If my mental map is correct, we ended up a ways north of the giants' forest. We left young Joel in Teba's care at the camp there, and should circle around the base of the mountain to let them know how things turned out."

Linkle's anger still smoldered at the impostor, who'd fooled her so completely, but for now she looked downcast. "...Yeah. If that thing's been hunting down whoever turns up on Dragonspine, then...the poor kid shouldn't keep waiting for his dad."

World of Light

Ms Fortune

Location: Smash City Alcamoth
Level 9 Nadia (58/90)
Koopa Troop’s @DracoLunaris, Blazermate and Susie’s @Archmage MC, Geralt’s @MULTI_MEDIA_MAN, Ace Cadet and Pit’s @Yankee, Sakura and Karin @Zoey Boey, Rubick’s @Scarifar, Omori’s @Majoras End, Nadia Fortune
Word Count: 1920

After another brief moment of silence, Nadia shook her head and breathed in, trying to freshen herself up. She’d said her goodbyes; it was time to move forward. “Alrighty then, this kitty’s had enough introspectin’ fur one mornin’,” she announced, as much to herself as to Omori, Junior, Bella, and Rika. She pushed herself up off the railing and put her hands on her hips while she addressed the others. “Well, rain or no rain, I’m su-purr glad Hatty brought us up there! Never seen a view like that in all my twenty-somethin’ years.” And yet, scarcely did she say the words before her focus began to drift again. While she wouldn’t be forgetting that breathtaking vista anytime soon, the reality of the World of Light was that her rooftop trip was just the latest in a long line of incredible experiences. While a bird’s-eye view amazed her, it also got her stoked to actually go out and explore the places she’d gotten a sneak peek at–to see this world’s wonders up close and personal.

Already the feral looked around the parapet cafe, keeping an eye out for anything else that might turn out to be interesting. Of everything present, however, her eyes settled on the tea and coffee menus. Raspberry, hibiscus, milk, cream. It all sounded good, but as she patted down her pockets Nadia realized there might be a slight problem. “Man, I’m parched. Could really do with a drink right now, but I spent my last bits o’ gold gettin’ pancakes!” Shrugging, Nadia snickered to herself. “Heh, maybe I shoulda just opened my mouth while standin’ in the rain up there, eh? Oh well.” Folding her arms behind her head, she continued her search. “Let’s see what other cool stuff this place’s got!”

As luck would have it, the first thing that Alcamoth had for Nadia was an angel. When Pit approached she waved back, wearing her typical genial smile. “Heya!” she replied. “You’re darn tootin’! Bein’ able to see so far just about blew my ever-lovin’ mind. Guess I’m lucky I ain’t scared of heights, huh? We woulda been up there longer, but it started rainin’ cats and dogs.” While the others might not feel the same way, Nadia found Pit’s awkward earnestness rather endearing. He looked like the textbook definition of the sweet, innocent kid archetype, straightforward and oblivious but lovable.

His funny name certainly didn’t ruin that impression, either. “Pit, huh?” the cat burglar grinned. “Sounds like you and a certain princess I know would make a peach of a pair! You can call me Ms. Fortune.” Not knowing any better, she returned his salute. “I’m purr-etty sure I saw you earlier in the meetin’ room, right? Didn’t get the chance to say hi though. Pleased to meetcha for real!”

The others introduced themselves, and Omori went on to ask the question that happened on Nadia’s mind as well. Junior and Rika, meanwhile, wanted food. She was all ears as Pit went to answer their questions, happy to hear any suggestions he might have on ways to pass the time.

His advice would not, as it turned out, be necessary. As Nadia and her friends spoke atop the dividing wall, a loud, clear tone rang out through the Ark Mall below them, followed by the stern, no-nonsense voice of Mission Control. “Attention, all Seekers of Light,” he said, his amplified words echoing through the wide-open space. “Operation Metro is a success. Please report to the Garfont Center A.S.A.P. for mission briefing. Over.” The transmission ended with a staticky click, and the silence it left behind quickly turned to excited chatter all over.

Nadia’s face lit up with excitement as she looked around at the others. “Wow, already!? It’s been, what, an hour? Not that I’m complainin’, let’s get a mewve on!” She sprinted through the cafe from the park side railing to the mall side, deftly weaving around the chairs and tables, and peered over the edge to assess the situation. Nine stories made for a long drop, much longer than she could stretch, and while a cat always lands on her feet, there was no guarantee the rest of her would survive the impact. Even if the Life Gem would let her recover from such a fall, she did not relish the pain. But at the same time, she wasn’t about to entertain the thought of going all the way around to use the spiral staircases. Not when today’s big mission was about to begin, and there wasn’t time to waste! Then it hit her: the perfect way to descend from a height, one that she’d employed with great success many times before. It made so much sense that she’d already put one foot up on the railing to jump when she remembered that the others couldn’t follow suit. Still, Junior could give Rika and Omori a ride down with his Clown Car, right? Nothing for her to worry about. Convinced, she climbed up on the railing. “Last one there’s a rotten egg!”

The cat burglar leaped, then twisted around as she fell to harden her nails into steel-hard claws. As the wind whipped her ears, hair, clothes, and tail she pushed her claws into the surface of the grand atrium’s dividing wall, at which point she came to the sudden realization that its constituent material might be tougher than she gave her credit for. Sudden panic flooded through her as she failed to get enough of a grip to slow her freefall. “Oh, no.” Clenching her teeth, she pushed harder and harder, but no luck. Bloody steams blasted out from her ankles, but it wasn’t enough, and she lacked the time to build up pressure. Time seemed to slow down as adrenaline pumped through her veins. Part of her wanted to squeeze her eyes shut and brace for impact, but she forced herself to keep her eyes open as her mind raced. Think, moron, think! Nadia screamed internally. There has to be something I can do. There has to be! I just need to remember! She gasped. Remember, remember…!

She split herself apart into ten pieces: head, torso, arms, hands, legs, and feet. From the cut-off points of all ten she blasted out her vital fluid, slowing the descent of her much lighter components, and just in time. Nadia’s pieces rained down just a moment later, their impacts no worse than that of a stubbed toe. As her head came to rest, she sighed in relief and began to pull herself together. “Jeez, that coulda been bad,” she breathed. “I gotta be more careful.” At no point did she consider that to any onlookers, it might appear as though she hit the ground at terminal velocity and exploded.

Not long after she stood in the Garfont Center meeting room, upright and attentive as if nothing had gone wrong. Along with her and rife with anticipation waited the other Seekers, gathered together after their dispersal throughout Alcamoth following the end of their sparring matches. Apparently, while she, Junior, Omori, and the Abyssals went topside, some sort of big duel went down on the bottom floor, but Nadia still knew only the barest details. She did notice the Peach sported a new battle outfit that made her look totally different, like some kind of superhero. For now though, her focus lay on Mission Control like everyone else.

“Thank you for coming, Seekers,” the surly-looking dwarf told them, lit from behind by the green glow of his holographic charts. “At this time, we have discovered what we believe is the closest Metro station to Alcamoth, just as planned. It’s here.” He pinged a spot on the map table way to the southeast, on a wide peninsula that faced the ocean not too far from their current location. “Twilight Town, so called due to a localized atmospheric phenomenon that bathes the area in permanent dusk. It appears to be a peaceful place, so conditions are perfect for a rendezvous. This is the route you will take.” A dotted line appeared on the map, extending from Alcamoth across the Eryth Sea, through the winding river canyon among the mountains, and out to the open ocean before heading south. “You’ll be going by water. In lieu of the Virgin Victory, which is still in Gerudo Town, our personnel have prepared transport in the vehicle bay, which will descend to the surface of the Eryth Sea imminently. We also have some mini-maps for you with the course plotted out, so that you don’t lose your way. Rock and stone, Seekers. Rock and stone.”

What followed was a mad dash across Alcamoth, out of the main atrium and to one of the neighboring domes. The moogles helped usher everyone in the right direction, so the whole affair turned into a race. With no passengers on her shoulders Nadia could really let her speed and agility shine, allowing her to leave most of her friends in her dust, although it all amounted to nothing anyway since the vehicle bay dome required everyone present before it could be lowered. That gave Nadia a little time to scope out the transport provided by Alcamoth’s personnel, which turned out to be just one person: the blocky craftsman, Steve. That left a sinking feeling in Nadia’s stomach, which ended up being well-founded when Steve revealed that the things she assumed to be boxes of some kind were in fact the Seekers’ watercraft: rectangular wooden rowboats of various sizes.

Nadia tried to hide her incredulity. “These?” she asked as she knelt by one, which got her a nod from Steve. “Won’t that be…really, really hard?”

“Actually, these boats are very easy to row, kupo!” one of the Moogles told her. “And once you get going, they go really fast. I’ve seen it, kupo!”

“Uh huh…” Like any good cat, Nadia went and sat inside the box, where she took one of the oars in her hands to get a feel for it. Its angular edges did not strike her as particularly ergonomic. She cast an envious look at Ace and Peach. “Kinda makes me wish I kept that shipgirl spirit, after all!”

Once everyone was ready, the dome began to lower. Whatever antigravity technology it incorporated made the descent as smooth as Nadia’s ride on the spider lift. Steve took the opportunity to give everyone their maps as well, which were paper and would have been totally mundane if not for little arrows that moved along with their holders to mark their current locations. As the dome got closer to the surface the bay doors opened, allowing water to rush in and flood the lower section of the floor, turning the bay into a sort of futuristic dock. Along with the others Nadia dragged her boat into the water and hopped in. Surprisingly, it didn’t really rock back and forth, maybe owing to its flatness. After taking up her oars Nadia looked out across the Eryth Sea in the midst of the pouring rainstorm, thanked her lucky stars that she didn’t mind getting wet anymore, and took a deep breath. Step one: cut across the Eryth Sea. Step two: navigate the winding canyon river. After that…well, if she got that far without encountering any sea monsters or raging rapids, she’d come up with future steps. “Well…water we waitin’ for? Here goes nothin’.”

Karnaca

Level 10 Tora (55/110) Level 10 Poppi (55/110)
Bede’s @Crimson Flame, Tora, Poppi, Vandham
Word Count: 1054

The boutique that caught Tora’s interest bore the name Glorious Karnaca, and the plaque outside the prestigious-looking place made it seem less like the average upscale shop, and more like some sort of cultural emporium. He stepped inside full of curiosity, excited to see a vertical slice of everything that made this new location special, and the establishment did not disappoint.

Each of the emporium’s corners featured an overarching theme based around an element of its storied history. One of them seemed to be dedicated to a period known as the First Silver Age, wherein the coastal city’s prosperity first abounded thanks to the discovery of rich veins underground. Various bits and bobs from that very early Karnaca could be found both on display along the walls and for sale on the racks and shelves on the floor, all hundreds of years old–or perhaps tailor-made to look that way. Tools, materials, and collectibles of the island’s original settlers could be found down the aisle from mining equipment that still found use in more recent times, long after the silver veins had dried up. Though not glamorous, it was this era that evidently started Karnaca down the long road to where it ended up today, but despite the glint of all the silverware on sale Tora found the whole display pretty dull. For now at least, he did not care to absorb its historical value.

Another fourth of the building centered around its high arts period, a direct result of the aforementioned Silver Age. Thanks to the influx of settlers and heightened cash flow, the arts and music that were once the purvey of pirates got adopted by high society, and they flourished with the help of the noble patrons. The silks and satins of fine party clothes caught the eye, and Tora found a number of cool-looking instruments around the area, but since the signs insisted that they weren’t to be toyed with Tora quickly lost interest. In his eyes, if an instrument could not be played, it held no more value than any other piece of wood or metal.

The third section Tora never got to see, because he then found the real start of the show: the mechanical corner. Dedicated solely to the works of the Natural Philosopher and Grand Inventor, Kirin Jindosh, it offered a wealth of curious devices and fascinating doodads. Tora oohed and aahed over them all, even if technically speaking they had nothing on the ether technology of Alrest, for they were incredibly clever in their relative simplicity. He pored over an audiograph player, an alarm system, and a loudspeaker, rudimentary to him but elegant and functional. Nothing compared, of course, to the Clockwork Soldiers. Though the one on display here was only a model, it showcased the lethal device in all its intricacy, a stunning marriage of metal, magnetism, and lacquered wood, all topped by a terrifying head that resembled a bird’s skull. Tora whistled at the machine’s four bladed arms as he hovered around it, trying to figure out how it worked without laying a finger on it. Despite his intellect and his subjection to the horrors of war, the Nopon was still a child at heart, comparable to a human of thirteen years, and right now he might as well be a kid in a toy shop.

Of course, his overenthusiasm eventually got the better of him, and Vandham went ahead and removed Tora from the premises before the proprietor got annoyed enough to kick him out. He got the sense that the man behind the counter knew that these two low-society bumpkins couldn’t shill out enough cash for anything in there, anyway. Though very disappointed that his friend elected to carry him away from all the incredible clockwork gizmos by the back of his overalls, Tora couldn’t stop his eyes shining even as he and Vandham returned to the morning sunlight outside. “It ingenious is what it is, meh!” Tora gushed. “It very basic, electric-powered, in some case using actual gears, but sophisticated at same time! Tora want meet this Kirin Jindosh smartypon someday!”

Vandham couldn’t help but chuckle at the Nopon’s optimistic enthusiasm. “Well, if the ‘Grand Inventor’ ain’t got anythin’ better to do than meet adorin’ friends, maybe someday.” He eyed Poppi as she approached, no doubt bearing news from Alcamoth. “But not today.”

“Meeeh! Tora bucket list growing by hour!” He sighed before turning to face his newly-arrived companion.

Poppi glanced over at Bede before nodding. “Made contact with HQ no problem,” she began. “Unfortunately, it look like we still very far away, maybe more than last time. We very close to southwestern corner of map. Based on destinations so far, Poppi predict that Blue Line run along whole western seaboard.”

Now it was Vandham’s turn to whistle. “Bloimey, this Metro’s somethin’ else. From the scorchin’ desert in the east up to a winter-locked city up north to tropical islands down south.” He crossed one arm, and with the other thoughtfully rubbed his chin. “If we can actually get a handle on it, we’ll be able to deploy all over the bloody continent, and at that point the world’s our oyster, eh?”

“That not all,” Poppi told him, getting the others’ attention all over again. “We not need see if Poppi prediction correct, because other team finish mission! Mission Control say that we need return to Metro and take Mint Line to Twilight Town, pronto!”

The news took Tora by surprise. “Meh-meh-meh!? That great news! Tora thought it take hours!” His bouncing up and down quickly stopped, however. “Wait, that mean we need gets pons again for different color pass…?”

“Reckon so, mate,” Vandham repled.

“Ugh,” Tora groaned. “Well, it annoying, but not hard, meh. We get it done soon, reach twi-twi town in time for lunch!”

Vandham nodded. “Shame we gotta go so soon. After all those grits and greasy slabs o’ bacon at that saloon, I was ‘opin’ I might be able to snag a bite of fruit or somethin’.” He shrugged, then started back toward the train platform. “Ah, well. Mint Line, ‘ere we come.”

Aviary Biodome

Level 7 Big Band (70/70)
Raiden’s @XoXKieroBombXoX, Big Band, Peacock
Word Count: 957

A couple minutes went by before another pitch-black hole opened up in the forest floor next to the log where Big Band waited, and out popped Peacock. Snow from outside piled up on her hat and her shoulders, and her cheeks and nose had gone cherry-red from the cold. Though mostly mechanical, Peacock still shivered ferociously, her teeth chattering cartoonishly loud.

Band’s eyebrows furrowed. “...Was it really that bad.”

“It soitenly was!” Peacock fumed. “Bouta hunnid degrees below zero I figure, two hunnid with the windchill! Where the hell is this place, the arctic circle!?”

Her companion winced. “Sorry, Pea. I know ya didn’t ask to be dragged along with us. Woulda gone if I could.”

Peacock stopped shivering, and gave a helpless shrug, rolling the six eyes of her Argus System. “Ehhh…fuggedaboutit. If youda gone out theres, you’d’a probably frozen stiff in a second, and I sure ain’t carryin’ your two-an’-a-half-ton tin can around, tell ya what.”

“Heheh.” The detective reached out a mechanical arm and patted his charge on the back to help get the snow off. “You’re a good kid, Pea.”

“Whatever ya say, pal.” Peacock made a show of turning up her nose as she reached up to raise her hat. Doing so revealed Avery atop her head, who placed a fresh cigar into his controller’s waiting hand. After replacing her hat she pulled out her revolver and shot the tip of her cigar to light it, which naturally worked thanks to her ambient aura of cartoon logic. One long puff later, she turned back to Band. “So, we goin’ back, or what?”

The two began the long trek back to the Biodome’s visitor center, retracing their steps. While they made sure to give the sunning rocks a wide berth, it looked like the reptile feud had resolved itself in their absence, and now the Ludroths lay across the wide, flat stones to soak up the polar sun’s meager rays. They spotted Rain Deer on the way back around the marshland as well, and though neither could tell if they were the same individuals they saw before, these ones minded their own business as well. Some buzzing bugs showed up to pester the pair and got swatted for their efforts, and at one point an accidental step in the swamp’s shallows triggered a writhing Water Devil that wriggled and splashed in the muck, but in a rare turn of events no actual problems presented themselves. In the distance a giant energy dome took shape over the deep forest, making Band wonder if the hunters he’d briefly ridden with had managed to corner their quarry, but there was no way to know. Despite his best efforts, he felt bad about bailing on them, and fervently hoped that the absence of himself and Peacock didn’t make the difference between the hunters’ survival and their extermination. If it did…well, he could only hope that he never found out.

After Band and Peacock found their way back to the four-wheelers’ tire tracks at last, the detective could begin to expedite the arduous journey back through the lush landscape. He bid Peacock jump on, then deployed his rockets to take to the skies. With the power of flight on his side, he both cut the trip down to a couple minutes and got a panoramic view of the Biodome’s verdant interior wilderness. He and Peacock scanned the forest for any exotic creatures, and took turns pointing their discoveries out to one another. Only once did they take a slight detour, as a massive Ekidno took off from the top of a towering rock formation to fly around, and though a mechanical marvel Band was not built for aerial combat in the slightest. Otherwise he made good time, and the duo touched down at the visitor center soon after.

Inside they found their missing cyborg ninja, who’d just finished talking with the biomechanical tour guide Ivara, and found they had less in common than he hoped. “Raiden! Was wonderin’ where in the world ya ran off to. You would believe all the crazy critters we nearly tangled with out there, coulda really used some help, man, I thought we were a team. Next time, how ‘bout a li’l warnin’ before ya go disappearin’ on us, hm?”

Peacock flicked her cigar at him. “Don’t got any room for double-crossers on this team, capiche?”

After the reunion Band made his back toward the train platform. “Okay, on to the next spot,” he said, trying to stay upbeat. “Next stop is…somewhere called Rapture? Sounds kinda ominous, if y’all ask me…”

“Actually, we oughta hightail it back to the Metro,” Peacock told him. “I forgot to tell ya’s, that Moogle fella said someone found the spot they wanted. Somewhere on the Mint Line, Twilight Town I think he said.”

For a moment Band stared with wide-eyed surprise. Then he reeled dramatically, as if blown away by the girl’s carelessness. “Why didn’t ya say so sooner, kid!? We nearly went who-knows-where!”

“I woulda stopped ya’s before ya got off the train,” she told him, her eyes closed in a nonplussed manner.

“Ugh, well, it’s fine. Music to my ears, in fact, ‘cause we don’t gotta wander around any longer.” Band peered over at Raiden to make sure he heard the news. “Hear that, my ninja? We’re headin’ back to kittyville. If you’re still with us, you’ll need to snatch up enough pons to snag another pass.” From the giant cat door one of the Metro’s giant tabbies appeared, its subway train in tow, and once it came to a stop at the platform the ASG soldiers stepped aboard.

Twilight Town

Sectonia’s @Archmage MC, Wonder Red’s @TruthHurts22, the Scout

Together Red and the Scout watched Sectonia buzz off, headed for the highest ground she could find for a call to Alcamoth. With nothing to do but wait, ideally with no violent skirmishes this time, the dwarf seated himself on the curb and made himself as comfortable as he could. Idly he wondered why the wasp queen decided to go up to the tower in particular. Since she could fly and all, the open air worked just as well, and all this course of action really accomplished was to show herself off to whoever might happen to glance in her direction. Hopefully the townsfolk wouldn’t mind the sight of Sectonia floating around the place’s most beloved landmark. It really was a miracle that he consented to working alongside her in the first place, considering his vast and varied but universally unpleasant experiences with bugs.

Up above, Sectonia successfully summoned a Moogle, who proceeded to repeat the same process that she went through in the heights of the overgrown city called Haven. This time, however, it took a little longer for the fuzzy little creature to return, and when he did he arrived in quite the tizzy, basically exploding with excitement. “It’s a hit, a hit, kupo!” he exclaimed. “Mission Control says this place is close enough to Alcamoth as we’re going to get, kupo! They’re gathering the crew to head your way as fast as they can! You just hang tight while we tell the other teams, kupo. Operation Railroaded Unity is a-go!”

While Sectonia’s appearance did not cause an uproar, it did not go unnoticed, either. Soon enough, a couple strangers crested the top of Market Street, having taken advantage of the rooftops and trams to make their way here on the double. One wore a black robe and sported spiky blonde hair, while the other seemed to be clad head to toe in a dark turquoise suit bearing white bone patterns, with a big skull mask to match. With their eyes on the far greater anomaly of Sectonia neither really paid Red or the Scout any mind, though they certainly didn’t look like the average Twilight Town citizen. They did not make any sort of fuss or give any sign of hostility, they did look rather wary, and with how fast their response time had been the Scout wondered if they really planned to do nothing, or were just biding their time. Either way, his team didn’t need the extra attention, so he made his way over.

“Oi, you lot!” he called, his somewhat high-pitched voice as gruff as it conceivably could be. “Whatcha gawkin’ at, eh? Might not look it, but that big bug’s with us. Just gettin’ a lay o’ the land for us, so think nothin’ of it, yeah?”

As the red-bearded Scout and the Militia members spoke, a keen pair of eyes watched from the other side of the window of a cafe on the edge of the plaza. “So, they’re coming here, after all,” the watcher purred, his lightly-accented voice as smooth as silk. “Won’t be long before things are in motion again. I suppose I should get moving then, as well.” He placed his half-empty mug down upon its china dish, then carefully took hold of his camera with gloved fingers. Darkness welled around him, and he snapped a quick photo as he disappeared.

---

Conventional Warfare

Party: Midna's Dracolunaris, Yankee's Primrose
EXP Reward: +15
Additional Reward: Your choice of 5 spirits (3 normal, 2 notable) of the following: Disciple, Percherón, Sister of the Charred Visage, Battle Nun (2 max), Harbinger (1 max), Hate Cage (1 max), Torture-mobile (1 max)

Natural Selection

Party: Roxas' Double
EXP Reward: +3
Additional Reward: None

Savage Garden

Party: Sectonia's Archmage MC, Red's Truthhurts
EXP Reward: +5
Additional Reward: Your choice of 2 spirits apiece, out of any of the Root enemies or allies that fell during the battle

World of Light

The Chalk Prince, the Prisoner, and Frisk

Frisk’s @Majoras End, the Prisoner’s @XoXKieroBombXoX

With her companion held tight Frisk took a leap of faith, fleeing Albedo’s icicle deluge for the safer, more wide-open space below. The snow piled up down there, previously blown through the cave entrance prior to its collapse, broke her fall enough to prevent injury, and for a brief moment she was safe. The same could not be said for the Prisoner, who as a veteran of unending battle had faced and beaten much worse than this ice-wielding human while listening to far more expert advice than Frisk’s, had gone on offense. Albedo’s icicle spears pierced the Prisoner’s body as he leaped to cut the alchemist down, first piercing through his body and then nailing him to the cliff face above Frisk. One forearm and one knee got cut clean through, which promptly fell to bounce off Frisk’s head. While the Prisoner’s all-important head hadn’t suffered a hit, his body -so recently restored- was done for.

A short distance away, Albedo hit the ground. His face was one of pain and anger as he yanked two of Frisk’s bone arrows from his torso and tossed them aside. Then his expression turned to a cruel grin, as if already imagining the satisfaction he’d feel once he took his revenge. He did not offer any rationale or explanation, or even offer a handful of parting words. He merely held out his hand and created a brand-new ice sword, then moved in with killer intent. If Frisk and her Spheal did not fight for their very lives, it would be the end.

Elsewhere in the cavern, the goblins stirred, roused by the commotion of Albedo’s icicle barrage. Even more distant were the sharp sounds of something cracking–or of something breaking through.

Dealing with the Devil

Smash City Alcamoth: Grand Hall

Something happened, and Sol hurtled backward, beaten bloody. “GAAAH!” he roared as he flew, taken completely by surprise. “The hell!?” In the span of a single instant, he’d been trounced without seeing Dante land so much as a finger on him. His mind raced. Rather than a single show-stopping impact, it felt more like a dozen blows had battered him, leaving him with bruises both sore and smoldering. Had she been so fast she ignited the air itself? How could anyone be that fast? As Dante ran after him he saw her equipped with new weapons, although unlike her other gear he didn’t see it manifest from flame. One second it wasn’t there, and the next it was. Sol narrowed his eyes as he remembered his friend Axl, who at times seemed to possess uncanny speed of his own.

Sol landed on his feet, skidding through the dust. “Nice gimmick,” he spat. “That goddamn bag of tricks is gonna have to run out eventually.”

His adversary laughed as she blazed in. “Brother, I haven’t even started to reach!”

Sol whipped the Outrage Mk II at Dante as she stepped in, catching her in the jaw with the weapon’s heavy end. She winced, but turned with the blow and span around into melee range. Expecting a headshot, Sol went for a rising hook with upper-body invincibility, but like an expert boxer Dante wove around his punch. Welter Move brought her around to her foe’s unguarded side and zapped him with a bantam Revenge kidney shot, leaving him momentarily paralyzed. Her front hand then flashed as a fiery blur, darting back and forth to land ten light hits in succession. A demonic voice from her Balrog gauntlets counted out the hits, burning brighter with each one. Then her fully ignited uppercut flashed toward his chin. “Minimum Dragon!”

Her fist hit Sol’s palm, the smack and resulting shockwave strong enough to clear the ash and dust in a small radius, and his fingers closed around it. With his teeth gritted the bounty hunter peeled Dante’s arm out of the way, then slammed his cranium into hers in a fierce headbutt that she returned with gusto. Though the ensuing BONK had to hurt, neither overcame the other, and for a moment the two were deadlocked. “When…” she grunted. “...Are you gonna get serious?”

“Whenever you quit playin’ around!” Sol growled.

Hie brought up his knee to hammer Dante in the stomach, lifting her off her feet, but when he went for another the devil slayer slipped from his grasp. Her Balrog gauntlets melted away to be replaced by boots, and she came around with a spin kick that snapped his head sideways, leaving a red mark on his cheek. Her follow-up crescent slammed into his vengeful backhand in a shower of sparks, and only with the retreating backflip kick Flint Wheel did she avoid a brutal slam from the Outrage. Unfortunately for Sol, Flint Wheel worked as a launcher with Ignition, and the incendiary arc of Dante’s kick threw him into the air. As he popped towards her she capitalized with the flip kick Updraft to join the midair party, then the divekick Friction. As her boot drove Sol into the ground a burst of flame popped him back up thanks to Ignition, and with a shit-eating grin she launched straight into a fiery breakdance.

“Yahoo!” she hollered as she whirled around, striking and juggling Sol again and again. Too disoriented by the sustained tumble to mount any sort of defense, he could only try to protect his head as the Break Spiral continued, his face one of utter annoyance. “Damn I’m good!” Dante sang. “I’m on f-!”

“You think you’re nice!?” Having had more than enough, Sol burst out of the combo in a flash of blue energy. It threw off Dante’s groove and sent her end over end, barely giving her enough time to react before Sol flew her way. “Bandit…” He thrust his knee out only to be brushed aside by Dante’s Royal Guard, who absorbed the hit before pivoting to stop his momentum with Royal Release. Instead Sol’s shin whacked her in the side of the head, bowling her over. “Revolver!”

“Oof!” Dante saved her fall with a roll, and by the time she got back to her feet Coyote was in her hand. Her shotgun blast forced Sol to block, but when she advanced while firing a second she found that her foe had already memorized its timing. He jumped up and sprang off a magic circle to close the distance, so Dante jumped up to meet him mid-air. Rather than get dusted, she used her own demonic circle to Air Hike over his attack and come down with a Helm Splitter to return him to the ground. “Light ‘em up!” She pummeled Sol with Fireworks, a fusillade of twirling shotgun blasts, then launched him with High Time and warped up after him. This time a shot from Coyote connected, canceled immediately into Sky Star to boost forward into Sol, Mustang Air to backflip off him, and another Coyote shot. After two stylish repetitions she ended with the speedy one-two midair launcher kick Firestorm, then another Friction to send both her and Sol careening toward the ground. “Take a dive!” With a terrific crash they landed just in front of the fountain at the Great Hall’s rear.

This time though, Ignition had run out, so Sol had a chance. When he hit the ground Sol lashed out with a low sweep without even getting up to knock Dante off her feet. “Grrah! This’ll shut you up!” He got up and drove his weapon into her torso hard enough to drive its flat-bladed end into the floor beneath.

Dante blinked at the blade protruding from her middle. “What, this?” She shrugged. “Dunno about that one, chief. Pizza, pancakes, ice cream, and other people’s swords are basically my four food groups.”

Sol’s eye twitched. “...What?”

“Oh, and since we’re on the subject.” From nowhere Dante manifested a rocket launcher and jabbed its bayonet into Sol’s chest. “Eat this!”

Both fighters disappeared in a fiery explosion. Shrouded in smoke, Sol, flew backward until he managed to right himself and skid along the tile. That is, until he reached a second torn up by the duel, got his foot caught, and fell on his ass. “Gah!” The roar of an engine issued from the cloud of dust, and Dante burst out, a little singed but not much worse for wear with her now injury already healed, on a demonic motorcycle to chase him down. Sol sword and got to his feet and went on the defensive as Dante drifted into him, at which point her bike came apart and morphed into two giant buzzsaws. Sol’s eyes widened. “You’ve gotta be kiddin’ me!” The Devil Hunter attacked with low speed but overwhelming power, and as the blades ground against his guard Sol clenched his teeth and put up Faultless Defense to lessen the chip damage. Whooping, Dante buzzed him again and again with Cavaliere, eating through his tension until she went for a giant double slam.

At that point Sol’s eyes flared, and as flame surrounded him he performed a single punch upward, blowing both halves of Cavaliere back to leave Dante wide open. “Tyrant…RAVE!” he roared, unleashing a riotous flare with the last of his tension that blew his opponent away.

At least, it seemed that way until Dante punished him with her strongest Royal Release yet, straight to his core. Sol crumpled with a breathless gasp, falling to his knees. “All warmed up!” she gloated as she brought Cavaliere out again, hitting him once, twice, before she remade the motorcycle for a Highside backflip launch, straight into Braking to drag Sol all th way back down for a backbreaking ground impact with her wheels. As if that wasn’t enough she then proceeded to do donuts with Idling, juggling him just like she had with Break Spiral until he finally flew free. He tumbled along the ground and lay there, groaning.

“Sol!” Jack-O cried, leaping down from her perch to run up and crouch beside him.

Dante hefted one of the saws onto her shoulder with a smile. “Score one for me!” She walked forward, dragging the other across the tile as it span to kick up sparks. “So your name is Sol, huh? Tell ya what, you’re not bad. Kind of got the blood pumping.”

As Jack-O helped him sit up Sol put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, and squeezed. They shared a look and a few muttered words, before they got to their feet. “...You ain’t half bad yourself, lady,” Sol admitted, his tone gruff.

“Lady?” Dante laughed. “You got me confused for someone else, pal. Maybe I hit your head a li’l hard there. How about callin’ it quits?”

Sol’s red eyes gleamed as he taunted her, pointing his thumb down. “I ain’t goin’ anywhere.”

“Then let’s rock! Gunslinger!” Producing a second rocket launcher with a harpoon rather than a knife, Dante stuck them both blade-first into the ground, then from their rear batteries unleashes a swarm of homing missiles.

They spiraled through the air toward not just Sol, but Jack-O too, and that of all things proved to be the tipping point. “Get back!” Sol barked at Jack-O before he took off running, sprinting in a wide arc to draw away the missiles. Once his girlfriend was in the clear he set a course straight for Dante. “Vortex!”

As he zoomed forward low to the ground, Dante warped above him, her rocket launchers angled straight down. “Heads up!”

Their payloads descended, but Sol Roman Canceled his Vortex and blasted off with Volcanic Viper. Its invincibility carried him up through the double explosion and straight into Dante’s face. “Screw you!” he roared as he cracked his enemy’s nose in a spurt of blood. Her devil sword appeared and she attacked with a blistering Air Rave in Swordmaster style, but Sol air-blocked the rain of blows to counterattack with Bandit Bringer. The meteoric dive punch drove both back to the ground in explosive fashion, and as Dante rolled to her feet Sol was already upon her. “Fafnir!” he snarled, throwing out a strong lunge punch. Without enough time to switch to Royal Guard, Dante blocked with her sword, which turned out to be the wrong choice as Fafnir guard crushed her.

With her defenses wide open, she attempted to switch styles, only for a second Fafnir to bounce her along the ground until Sol followed up with Night Raid Vortex. “Goin’ my way!” He moved in to apply pressure, and she answered back with a wheeling sword combo, but a gap in her string allowed him to start blocking again. Faultless Defense pushed her back just as her combo ended, only for Dante to transition to Million Stab and catch another Fafnir before it could get started. Sol grunted and replied with a Gunflame, backed up just a touch, then jumped after it with Bandit Revolver. He watched Dante deflect the projectile with Royal Guard, but the first hit of his well-spaced Revolver stopped just short of her defense, and before she could change tact Sol reached out and grabbed her.

“Gotcha now.”

He hauled Dante over his shoulder and pounded her into the tile with his Wild Throw, leaving a small crater. The impact drove the breath from Dante’s lungs, leaving her momentarily stunned as Sol began to stomp. For the first time, a flicker of uncertainty nagged her. Ever since this ‘round’ got started, her opponent had her number. He’d already betrayed hints of an intelligence that went far deeper than his rough-and-tumble appearance, but now things seemed to be going way worse. What had changed. Her frustration built as Sol brought his heel down on her abdomen again and again, and by the time he went for another sword plant, she’d had enough. “...My turn!”

Crimson demonic power exploded out from within her, throwing Sol off, and from the crater shot a fiery blur. Sol looked to see a demonic warrior, albeit vaguely female, her hand extended to grab him. “Your trump card, huh?” He teched the air grab, only to be blasted down into the ground by a purple beam from each of Dante’s palms in turn. “Ngh!”

“Just hit my boiling point!” Dante teleported to reach the ground, then let rip Drive and Overdrive. All three hit, and though Sol zoomed in with Night Raid Vortex, the devil hunter conjured four floating swords beside her and blew straight through with Stingers. The swords continued to drill into him even after she stopped, at which point she recalled Cavaliere in motorcycle form and finished the charge with a full-throttle ran from the bike’s spiked front. Sol crumpled, disarmed and bleeding, and after re-equipping her devil sword Dante began to charge the finishing blow. As she couched her blade four more summon swords appeared around her, one after another, spinning like sawblades. “...Have a nice trip. See ya next fall!”

Her Round Trips whirled forward, five flying guillotines of death. Sol tried to stand, but his body wasn’t responding. He couldn’t do anything as the blades closed in, except reach for the hilt of his weapon. “You…sonuva…!”

“I won’t let you!” A white blur flashed in front of Sol, and Dante’s Round Trips bounced harmlessly off a cluster of energy shields. As her devil sword returned to sender, she saw that Jack-O had jumped in to save Sol. Along with her were her three servants, one happy, one sly, and one as angry as Jack-O herself. They all wielded lollipop bats and little shields, which they’d raised on their master’s defensive command.

Dante’s Devil Trigger ran out, and she sighed as she leaned on her sword like a giant cane. “You too, huh? So much for a fair fight.”

“You call that fair!?” Very flustered, Jack-O balled her fists up at her sides. Slowly, Sol picked his aching carcass up to stand beside her as her servants expired. “That ‘Royal Guard’ of yours can block anything, and you shrug off injuries like they’re nothing! How many powers and weapons do you even have!?”

Snickering, Dante snapped her fingers. “Doppelganger.” Doing so manifested a new devil arm on her back, and beside her a swarm of flies took on a shadowy shape almost identical to her own. “Let’s just say that when it comes to two on one, I’m covered.”

Jack-O’s mask stuck out her tongue before she glanced at Sol. “You ready, hotshot?”

“You oughta get back,” Sol told her. “This one’s dangerous, she’s got all kinds of bullshit!”

Jack-O grinned. “Me, too.”

“...Then let’s get this over with,” her boyfriend grumbled.

The two teams closed in. Dante and her doppelganger pulled scarlet spikes from Lucifer’s wings and hurled them two, three, or even five at a time. Jack-O summoned and passed Sol a servant before both ran in together through the rain of swords, dodging them when they could and relying on the servants to block them when they couldn’t. Before they could reach her Dante clapped her hands together, causing all the embedded spikes to blow up, along with the servants that shielded them. As a flurry flew right at him Sol knocked them aside with the Outrage, then had to stop short as both Dantes came in hot. They battered his guard with a double combo of identical attacks, with the final overhead slam from both strong enough to bring Sol -who still wasn’t not doing great- momentarily to his knees.

That worked just fine for Jack-O, who vaulted right over him to drop two armfuls of Servants. She managed to catch both by surprise with a gymnastic spin kick that went smoothly into Servant Shoot, kicking all three of her minions right into the enemy. On her command they slapped both Dante and her doppelganger with their lollipops, once, twice, three times before they took the little guys out. By that time Sol got up and ran forward, scooping Jack-O up as he did. Well before getting into melee range the two took one another by the hand, and Sol swung Jack-O like a massive flail. Her pumpkin-shaped hobble became a wrecking ball, awash in green fire, and clobbered the Dantes before they could mount their offense. As they staggered the remarkably limber Jack-O twirled around to land sitting on Sol’s shoulder with her legs crossed, her hobble swinging up to land neatly atop her fingertips.

“What’s the matter?” she taunted. “Not as flexible as you thought?”

“It’s her ‘mode’,” Sol observed. “She switches between them, whether by snappin’ or sayin’ ‘em aloud. She can only warp or guard in the right mode, and this fly…” He narrowed his eyes at the doppelganger. “Thing is one of ‘em.”

Dante laughed. “Figured it out, huh? You oughta thank me for bein’ so stylish. Otherwise you’d have nothin’ to go on!” She shook out her shoulders. “Course, I’m pretty rusty too. Been a minute since I used this one! Let’s pick it up!”

She and her doppelganger split up, charging from different directions as they opened fire with Ebony and Ivory. Jack-O jump off Sol and kicked a servant at the double, which cut the minion in half before it jumped up while charging Round Trip to throw at her. She kicked her own hobble to intercept the double from a mile away and knock it back down, giving her a chance to set up more servants. Meanwhile, Sol’s Fafnir and Dante’s Stinger clashed, with the latter’s reach winning the trade. She launched him with High Time, switched to Lucifer to throw two trios of spikes into him midair, then pulled out Kalina Ann to spear him with the harpoon and reel him in. A mighty punch from Balrog floored him, after which a quick switch to Lucifer allowed her to throw a rose and detonate the spikes. She jumped up to fall on him with Helm Splitter only to get intercepted by his lightning-fast kick and promptly rolled by Fafnir into a ‘corner’, though her combo left the bounty hunter too winded to run after her.

He sent off a Gunflame and turned to see Jack-O mistime a Defend Command and get both herself and her minion hit by the doppelganger’s Stinger. While that move did a world more damage to her than him, she managed to fight through the pain and wake up with an invincible reversal. “Forever…!” Totally immune to the double’s attacks, she grew her hobble to the size of a bell and slammed it down over the swarm of flies, trapping them inside. She then launched into the sky with it, spinning it around, and in a blaze of glory cracked the earth with an incredible pile driver. “Elysion…Driveeeeeeer!”

At that point Dante and Sol were back at it, slugging it out in an all-out brawl of punches, kicks, and slashes. Without Royal Guard to mess up the flow they were neck and neck, with Sol weary but Dante in no particular rush. “You’re smarter than you look, but you brawl like it’s a bar fight!” the devil hunter teased as she swiped at her foe’s legs

“I’ve had my fair share!” Sol told her as he blocked low, then went for a jaw slam with the Outrage.

Dante took it in the chin and used the momentum to flip backward, releasing a twin-pistol charge shot. “You and I oughta grab a drink some time!”

Her opponent sidestepped it. “I’m spoken for!”

“I didn’t mean it like that!”

From Sol’s right sailed a trio of kicked servants. Dante slid forward on her knees with a purple guitar in hand and in a column of lightning destroyed all three. The sight of Jack-O rolling on atop her hobble meant that her doppelganger must have been destroyed, she knew. Dante lifted off the ground and sent a lightning orb toward her with Air Play, prompting Sol to get in the way. “You’re fightin’ me!” he yelled as he swung his blade. He saw Dante snap her fingers, then hurtled backward, electrocuted and limp from the barrage of free hits he took during Quicksilver.

“Uh oh!” Thinking quickly, Jack-O flipped upside-down, anchoring herself by her hobble to a point in the air. She caught Sol and swung upward, dispersing the momentum, then swung back down and unanchored her hobble to sprint toward Dante with Sol held overhead like a servant.

“Thanks,” he grumbled. This woman hadn’t been kidding about her bag of tricks.

Her face lit up with a smile as she looked up at him. “You’re–whoa!”

Jack-O dropped him, then herself to the ground to avoid Dante’s Helm Splitter as she fell from above, having warped over the two. One leg shot up with her hobble atop it to bean Dante in the head before her plunging attack could connect, throwing her off. As her foe landed Jack-O contorted herself to kick at Dante’s ankles, which she then sawed into with her halo. Dante toppled over backward, then rolled into a sitting position. “Whoa. You’re one flexible gal!”

“Thanks!” Having been crouched, Jack-O hopped up alongside Sol, before both spread out to either side of Dante. “Wanna see more?”

“As if that left anything to the imagination!”

The two went in, and Dante went for the weak link. She fired a rocket at Jack-O as she summoned a new servant, then brought out the Cavaliere saws. “Jack-O!” Sol yelled, changing plans in an instant. Hel jumped off the one she swung at him, and over her head, then airdashed backward and expended his Psych Burst to send Dante tumbling away, maxing out his tension in the process. It was a cheap trick, but rather than capitalize he went for the smoke cloud. “Are you okay!?”

“Yeah!” She announced as she flew from the smoke atop her hobble, using it to spit down fireballs at Dante. “Just focus on her!”

“If you think you’re up to it!” Dante added cheerfully, doffing Faust as she lazily sidestepped the fireballs. Another little hat-ghost appeared next to her with its shadowy coat of flies, and she summoned Agni and Rudra to hand. “C’mon, our friends’re getting antsy!”

She swept toward Sol in a cyclone of wind and fire and rained down blows upon him. To open up his defense she switched between Tricker and Swordmaster to teleport above and behind him, with her ghost friend shooting all the while, and it was working. Sol sacrificed some of his newfound meter for a Yellow Roman Cancel to get her off him, while Jack-O threw a servant before she descended on her foe from behind. Switching rapidly, Dante held off both at once for a moment, until Sol managed to snatch and blow up her mini-Faust. Jack-O took the chance to snuck her hobble beneath Dante and detonated it beneath her. In reply the well-done Devil Hunter whipped her swords around in a frenzy, stirring up a tornado of flames that hit both opponents but launched Jack-O way up high.

As she flailed Dante warped up next to her. “You’re a bigger problem than I thought!” she announced, chasing Jack-O with Sky Star. “Let’s get you back off the dance floor!”

Unable to escape the aerial onslaught, Jack-O anchored her hobble and dangled beneath it again. Dante landed on top of it, amused, only for a servant to pop up behind her and thwack her in the back of the head. “Ow!” By the time she turned to dispose of it it had fallen again, allowing one on the other side to appear and hit her, too. “Ow!” Below her, Jack-O juggled her servants faster and faster, tossing them up to hit Dante or force her to block again and again until finally she whirled Faust around to tag all three at once, then dispatch the lot with one three-sixty degree slice. She then thrust her arm into the air and snapped. “Red Hot Night!”

A meteor of crystallized demon blood formed and smashed down on her position in a tremendous impact, strong enough to shake the whole Great Hall. Jack-O screamed as she went flying, only to get cut off as she splatted against the wall above the fountain, where she stayed.

“JACK-OOO!” Sol roared. Despite getting hit by the meteor himself as he tried to help his girlfriend, he staggered to his feet. Unarmed but red-hot with anger, he pointed at Dante. “You’re dead meat, lady!”

The Devil Hunter smiled, a sinister streak showing through. “Oh? The Warden of Decay, the Sovereign of Pestilence, dead meat?” Dark power welled around her, and in an explosion of rippling flesh and foul curses she went into her new Abyss Devil Trigger, becoming a monstrous demonic insect. When she spoke, her voice was warped and inhuman. “I’d like to see you try, Sol!”

“Dragon Install!” Sol reached up and ripped off his headband, causing his eyes and symbols on his skin to blaze with infernal flame. He, too, transformed as he charged, reaching out toward his enemy with a clawed hand. “HRAAAAAH!”

The monster stretched out her wings and focused power through them, releasing a torrent of laser blasts that homed in on Sol like missiles. It was enough to lay practically anyone to waste, but as the bombardment continued, Dante realized that there might be a problem. No matter how many lasers she fired, they were only slowing Sol down. Heavy Mob Cemetery could not be stopped. With no alternative she kept up the pressure, but one foot at a time Sol pushed through, until finally he broke free of the Luca and bulled straight into the monster’s body. He lifted the whole thing off the ground, fifty feet into the air, and then in a pyroclastic plume of flame slammed her into the ground.

In that moment, all of Alcamoth ever-so-slightly tipped.

When the fire and smoke cleared, Sol stood over Dante in a new crater, both in their human forms again. “Hoo…hoo…” Dante panted. Despite being in bad shape, she was grinning ear to ear. “Whew, what a ride! I haven’t had so much fun in ages!” Sol opened his mouth to say something, but the woman on the floor just continued. “Still, we oughta wrap it up before the whole city comes knockin’. Pucker up!”

She blew him a kiss in the form of a bright pink heart. Sol blocked it, but it worked anyway, and in the blink of an eye he was fully restored. The barrage of memories and realizations made him stumble, and he hit the ground in front of Dante as she sat up. “Whah…huh? W-what the hell?”

“Yeah, pretty nuts, right?” Dante smoothed her hair back, a half-smile on her face as she glanced around. “Sorry, everyone. I coulda done that a lot sooner, but…well, it’s not every day you get a scrap like that.” She sighed wistfully. “One that makes you feel alive, y’know! Man, I’ll be ridin’ that high for a while.”

Sol got to his feet, his mollification writ on his face as he took in all the onlookers, including the Door Bosses. “Ugh. What a massive pain. Been a long time since I caused trouble like this…” His eyes landed on Jack-O, and he immediately ran to go and help her down. “Uh…listen. I know I made a mess, but…whatever you did for me, could you do it for Jack-O, too?”

“Least I can do!” Dante cheerfully obliged, offering another friend heart. “And while I’m at it, lemme be the first to say. Welcome to Alcamoth, you crazy-tough sonuva gun. Things’re gonna be a lot livelier with you around, I bet!”

Guile stepped up with a stern expression, his arms crossed. “Before that, I’m afraid you’ve got some explaining to do. I know this all started because we attacked you, but what happened is beyond out of the ordinary. Neither of our bosses are around, I dread to think what’ll happen when Mewtwo and Vandham get back. Talk about a perfect storm.”

Sol grimaced, groaning. Why, oh why did he have to listen to that Yuri girl’s advice?

Infactorium: A New 4Xpansion (Overlord RP) [DISCONTINUED]

I'm sorry things are rough! Take all the time you need.

World of Light

Ms Fortune

Location: Smash City Alcamoth
Level 9 Nadia (55/90)
Koopa Troop’s @DracoLunaris, Blazermate and Susie’s @Archmage MC, Geralt’s @MULTI_MEDIA_MAN, Ace Cadet and Pit’s @Yankee, Sakura and Karin @Zoey Boey, Rubick’s @Scarifar, Omori’s @Majoras End, Nadia Fortune
Word Count: 1209

When Junior’s suggestion of a speedy withdrawal from the rooftop drifted over to her, Nadia didn’t respond right away. Sure, the raindrops felt a little chilly up here, and the same thought did occur to her, but she felt no real hurry. In fact, she figured she could stay up here a while longer, if she wanted. Idly she wondered if she could attribute it to the Oceanid, but the water really did bother her much, be it raining from the sky or breaking gently against the shore before her, so long as it was pure. And what could be purer than clear, fresh rain?

The feral took a long, deep breath and turned her face upward, eyes closed, feeling the droplets splash against her face. It felt nice. In recent memory, the only other time it’d been raining had been back on Carcass Isle, beneath the eternal stormy sky of the Bottomless Sea, and that had been miserable. Its pelting sting had been an active detriment while fighting in the violated fishing hamlet, not something that could be enjoyed, but just one more thing to contend with in that wretched, diseased place. The memory made Nadia shiver, and she turned her face down from the sky. As she wiped the water from her eyes and brushed her hair behind her ears, she glanced at the others up with her on the roof. While Bella and Rika, as natives of the Bottomless Sea themselves, probably didn’t care about getting wet, Nadia’s dawdling meant that Junior would get rained on as he waited to take the spider lift back down. Although, since the elevator shaft opened to the sky, Nadia wondered if there would be any relief from the rain on the way down, anyway.

That left just Hatty, who Nadia found after a quick look around, seated on the railing that overlooked Alcamoth’s front with her umbrella open. She jogged over, splashing with each footfall, and leaned on the balustrade beside the little girl to look out over the Eryth Sea once more. For a couple moments they just rested there, taking in the peaceful scene beneath a rainy sky. Down below, Alcamoth Park shone through the domed glass roof of the forward atrium, the rich greens of its fields and trees softly lit by the greenish-blue floor lights that filled the place. Nadia’s knuckles still felt a little sore from all the punches she’d landed Junior’s clown car, although she didn’t mind, since each hit meant she’d dialed in her aim a little better. By the end of the climb up here, she felt pretty good about them, even if her fists stung a little. Maybe she could try out her pawttle rockets in her next fight.

When she looked over at Hatty, the little girl didn’t seem to be admiring the view. Instead she squinted down at Eryth Sea itself, her umbrella rested on her shoulder, as if mentally calculating the distances and angles. To the average person the machinations of her mind might have been an enigma, but Nadia could make a solid guess as to what Hatty might be thinking, largely because -in a very Ms Fortune turn of events- she’d had the same crazy idea herself.

“Water ya thinkin’? Not plannin’ to jump, are ya?” she asked the kid, raising an eyebrow. Hatty rubbed her chin like a sagacious philosopher, then shrugged. “I mean, I know that umbrella of yours can break falls, and normally I’d be right there with ya, ‘cause a high dive from here’d be one for the history books. but we’re reeeeeally high up. Literally sky-high.” Nadia flicked her ear as a big drop happened to land right inside it. “Plus, the rain’s makin’ it kinda hard to see. Why don’t we try another time? Maybe with a pair o’ chutes, nyeheh.”

Hatty thought for a moment longer about the death-defying stunt, then sighed and shrugged, as if to say oh well. With a chuckle Nadia scooped Hatty off the railing, and with the kid in the same bridal carry Ace had used on her, the feral jogged back toward the elevator shaft. By now it was really starting to pour, enough to tempt Junior and Bella to improvise with their heavy machinery as makeshift shelter. Once everyone got on board, the lift began to retrace its eight-legged steps, carrying the sightseers all the way back down.

Luckily, it took less time to go down than up, since the spider-legs just needed to control the platform’s fall rather than haul it and its passengers upward. Nadia’s prediction about getting rained on the whole time even turned out to be wrong, since a pair of reinforced bay doors closed shut over the shaft once the elevator went down far enough. By the time the platform came to a rest back in the middle of the parapet cafe at the end of the descent, everyone was pretty much dry again.

Hatty, who’d jumped out of Nadia’s arms basically the instant she set foot on the lift up top, ran a few steps in one direction and then stopped, looking around. “Where to now?” Nadia asked, but the kid thought of an answer, she didn’t say. “Well, I was hopin’ we might get a Moogle on the way down sayin’ we’re headed out, but either way we’ll be goin’ pretty soon.” The feral crossed her arms as she leaned against one of the shaft’s support struts. “You’re comin’ with us, right kid?”

Her little friend removed her hat, then after only a moment’s hesitation, shook her head. Nadia’s heart sank a little. “Oh. Well, that’s cool! I mean, that’s fine. You probably wanna find more of those hourglasses of yours, right?” Hatty gave a nod, sad but resolute. “Well, we’ll miss ya out there. You too, Bell. Both of you stay safe, and have some fun, alright?” Nadia put her feelings aside to smile, and patted Hatty on the head. “You’re a good kid. Gooder than me when I was your age, that’s fur sure! See ya ‘round!”

Hatty nodded and put her hat back on. Once the others gave their farewells she turned, ran toward the edge of the parapet, and dove off. When Nadia went over, she peered down just in time to see the kid break her fall with her umbrella just above the ground floor, then scamper off through the park to the Limsa warp. Would she be alright on her own? Nadia hoped so. More than that she couldn’t say for sure–she could only reason that Hatty was one uncommonly brave and strong little girl, and that the World of Light had better watch out.

After a moment Nadia sighed. Saying a farewell like this was bittersweet, but it was better than nothing. She found herself wishing that she had a moment like this with Link, Mirage, Delsin, Frog, or the shipgirls like Chao Ho, as briefly as she’d known them. She knew she couldn’t entertain these wistful thoughts forever, though. This world seemed to be full of remarkable people, and there would be countless more meetings and partings. She needed to fix her eyes on the road ahead, and those who would walk it with her.

“Goodbye.”

Dealing with the Devil

Smash City Alcamoth: Grand Hall

Her ultimatum issued, Dante lowered her weapon and began to walk forward, and her opponent did the same. From several hundred feet away she stared the surly Sol Badguy down, who returned her gaze with a humorless glare, his eyes shaded by his headband. His fingers tightened around the grip of the Outrage as he drew nearer, step by step. At about twenty feet apart they stopped, both seemingly relaxed and waiting as if for some kind of signal. Dante showed off her pearly whites with a carefree smile, daring Sol to make the first move, while the gear just glowered, waiting for her to make good on her challenge. Their standoff seemed to drag on and on, tension building among both the combatants and the onlookers.

Neither acknowledged the presence of Bowser, Kamek, or Kamek’s clones, as if they made no difference despite the Koopa King’s typical bluster. In the course of looking after the fallen, the witch came to realize that their overall condition wasn’t as bad as it first appeared. They’d been beaten up, in some cases pretty badly, but not fatally wounded. Some even limped or staggered away from the imminent fight on their own, trusting in Alcamoth’s strongest mercenary to do what they could not. With that crisis out of the way, all eyes turned back to Dante and Sol.

Mankind knew that they could not change society.

So instead of reflecting on themselves, they blamed the beasts.

Heaven or hell.

Though the two barely moved, the air around them wasn’t still. It almost seemed to thrum with energy as the two took long, measured breaths to fill and empty their lungs, pumping blood through their bodies that coursed with incredible power. It was easy to imagine sparks flying between them as they took a fraction of one another’s measure, never breaking their taunting or stoic facades. “...You’d better go all out,” Sol told her. “Right from the start.”

“Heheheh,” Dante snickered, her laughter clear and bright, and her eyes alight with anticipation. “After you.”

The next instant both attacked at the same time. Dante carved upward with her High Time launcher, while Sol let loose his ballistic far slash. A tremendous impact reverberated through the Great Hall as the blows traded, popping Sol into the air while Dante tumbled backward with an upset stomach. She rolled back to her feet while her opponent picked himself up, and with her Devil Sword in a reverse grip scraped across the tile with two Drives and a blistering Overdrive to send three slash waves Sol’s way. He blocked the first, dodged the second, then launched upward and over the finale with his teeth and fist clenched. “Bandit…” Like a meteorite he blazed downward. “Bringer!”

“Trickster!” As Sol struck the ground in a fiery explosion, Dante vanished and appeared above him with Air Trick, then fell upon him with Helm Splitter. “Alright!” She bit into her appetizer with four consecutive slashes, ending in a revolving thrust that became the vertically spinning Shredder, followed by Prop going the other way, and finally a finishing Stinger. Sol grunted as the thrust knocked him away, and as he stood a volley of demonic gunfire flew his way. “Yahoo!” Dante sang, hammering her handguns’ triggers with both hands. Her opponent started to run in an arc around her, his madcap sprint low to the ground, but she adjusted both her aim and her shooting poses to keep up, strafing as she did. After a couple shots Sol decided he could just power through and swept toward Dante with Night Raid Vortex, moving so low to the ground that he went under her gunfire. Rather then keep at it Dante began to charge, and when her foe’s jaw dropper erupted toward her, she cartwheeled backward before delivering a point-blank, double-barreled charge shot. “Jackpot!”

Sol staggered, but he kept his footing, his teeth bared in a snarl. “Projectiles are BULLSHIT!” he announced as he bulled forward. His mighty chop slammed into Dante’s attempt to block, and as his attacks forced her to backpedal the trickster realized with some surprise that her adversary’s physical strength might even outstrip her own. Sol struck with hit after tooth-rattling hit, some high, some low, and the moment he delayed a swing in order to catch an ill-conceived counterattack, Dante teleported above and behind him in a red flash. She hoped to catch him unawares with another Helm Splitter, but the bounty hunter turned on a dime and met her descent with Volcanic Viper, shrugging off her drop slash and blasting her from the sky.

He ran in to capitalize on the knockdown, but Dante flipped back up and changed stances. “Royal Guard!” Sol applied pressure again, but this time his enemy deflected his hits with expert parries from her bare hands. He clicked his tongue and tried again, mixing up his strikes, but whether high or low Dante knocked them all aside.

“Hmph!” he spat, crackling with orange energy as he charged his Dust. “Let’s see you parry THIS!”

For a moment Dante planned to, but at the last second she decided otherwise, and ducked backward just in time to avoid an infernal launcher by a matter of centimeters. Her swerve flowed into a counterattack, and with a straight palm strike released all the damage she’d absorbed straight into Sol’s ribs. His air exploded from his lungs as he crumpled, and Dante grinned. “If ya think that took your breath away, get ready for this! Gunslinger” While Sol fought for breath she donned a white hat, manifested a little ghostlike companion, and started to dance. With a flourish she whirled the hat around her, hitting and applying one to Sol in the process, before she popped Sol into the air with High Time. The ghost belted out a coordinated attack with a volley of red orbs, juggling Sol long enough for Dante to pummel him with a punishing blast from Coyote shotgun, then again long enough for her to roll forward and Cut in Front for a second blast. For the finale Dante unleashed Man in the Red, surrounding herself in a tumultuous cloud of red orbs that buffeted Sol as she sprinted into him, then finally launched forward with him in tow.

“Damn!” Sol wheezed, getting up into a crouch only to find Dante already on him, switched into Swordmaster to embroil him in her Dance Macabre. He gritted his teeth and blocked with everything he had, defending himself against four strikes canceled into a lightning-fast Million Stab and then canceled again into Crazy Dance. Dante stabbed her sword into the ground, gripped it by the hilt, and then whirled around it with a revolutionary flurry of kicks. All that momentum went into a heft revolving slash, then another, and finally a gigantic baseball swing to bring down the house.

Except that Sol used Faultless Defense to push her back on the second-to-last hit, causing the baseball swing to whiff completely. As it carved through the air Dante’s wide eyes met Sol’s for just a moment, and found them filled with glee. “...Finally!”

COUNTER! Dante’s mouth flew open in pain and surprise as Sol’s far slash slammed into her stomach. He followed up with a one-two up-and-out wallop that would’ve sent her tumbling away if he didn’t Roman Cancel it, blitzing after her in a burst of red energy. His high kick lifted her high enough for a ”Gunflame!” to explode beneath her, enabling another high kick followed by a Vortex. At that point Sol hopped up to follow her, striking with his air dust.

While that knocked her back, Dante’s flight was short-lived, and to her shock she bounced off an invisible barrier behind her. “W-what!?” She tumbled right back toward Sol, who looped into another air dust, and then on the second wallbounce, finally finished off with a clean hit Volcanic Viper. With a somewhat uncharacteristic cry Dante plowed straight through the unseen barrier and soared across the hall. She landed hard between an astonished Euden and Mym, and just a brief moment later Sol landed in front of them.

“Guess the first round’s mine,” he smirked.

The prince unsheathed his sword and the dragon unveiled her spear, but Dante flipped to her feet. “Hey, hey!” she called, wiping a trace of blood from her lip with a smile. “Thought I said to hold it? We were just startin’ to have some fun!”

“We’ll stand a better chance if we work together!” Euden insisted.

“Piss off, kid!” Sol barked at him. “Can’t you see the adults are talkin’?”

Mym bristled. “How dare you insult my darling! I’ll have you know…”

Sol flipped her off, then shared it with Geralt and the other onlookers too. “Have this!”

“Don’t be a stick in the mud, you two! This party’s just gettin’ started!” Dante told them, and before they could say otherwise, she charged ahead. “Quicksilver!”

Radlandia

Level 10 Tora (53/110) Level 10 Poppi (53/110)
Bede’s @Crimson Flame, Tora, Poppi, Vandham
Word Count: 1429

While for a moment it looked as though Poppi planned to rocket-propel herself on over and give the psychic-type a taste of her Alpha form’s claymore, the artificial blade wasn’t so impetuous that she ignored the local Pokemon expert. Bede not only recognized the strange creature currently bamboozling her Masterpon but offered some trivia on it. Of course, the information he shared only served to make Poppi regard the Elgyem as even more of a threat, but she took it to mean that he did harbor enough pertinent knowledge about the creature to make good on his offer to handle things. Though her expression did not turn any less hostile, she relaxed somewhat, resting her spiritborne greatsword on her shoulder. “Masterpon in friend Bede’s care,” she told him, stepping aside to let him strut his stuff. Hopefully he knew what he was doing, but if things went south, she could always fall back on her original plan.

He produced a small, round, bicolor device that Poppi recognized as a Pokeball from the brief time in which she attempted to train a Pokemon of her own. Unfortunately she just lacked the time or experience needed to take care of it, resulting in the release of that particular Croagunk to the wild, but from that stint she’d gotten a crash course of the bare essentials alongside the Courier and Junior. The creature that Bede called forth was new to her, with its pastel blue-pink coloration and funny little sleeping cap, but she did realize what its trainer planned to do with it. “So, this going to be Pokemon battle,” she observed. “Good luck!”

Neither Bede nor his partner needed her encouragement. The ‘battle’ with the wild Elgyem lasted less than a minute, with a total of three moves exchanged before Bede chucked a fresh Pokeball at the supernatural critter and trapped it within. While the captive Elgyem struggled for its freedom, its resistance seemed to be futile, for after just a couple weak thrashes the ball went still.

“Meh-meh?” Tora blinked the glaze from his eyes, rubbed them with his little hands, then gave a vigorous shake of his head. “What happen?” His wondering eyes fell on Bede as the Pokemon trainer approached, asking about his condition. “Tora think so, meh. One minute Tora see funny lighty-lights inside little house, but when go look, suddenly feel like big sleepypon.” He looked between Bede and Poppi as she came over, equal parts confused and mortified. “Next thing Tora know, out in strange forest where everything green like Bobbile Brog.”

Poppi crouched next to him, her eyes wide with concern as she looked at her Masterpon from different angles. Not sure what to make of it, Tora just stared back until she reached out and started squishing his head. “Masterpon sure brain is okay? Bede say Elgyem have strong psychic power.”

“Tora brain just fine, thanks! Enormous as ever!” Tora protested, although it was hard for him to hide his satisfaction at receiving what amounted to a scalp massage. After a moment Poppi let off, nudging him in the side with a slight gesture to Bede, and Tora cleared his throat. “Thank you for rescue!” the Nopon told the trainer. “Friend Bede is good friend!”

Vandham laughed, crossing his arms. “Sounds like you know a thing or to about Pokemon, kid. Sorted that li’l bugger out right quick. Maybe you oughta stick with us after this, when all the train business is said an’ done. You’ll ‘ave plenty o’ chances to fight an’ travel, I tell ya that.”

“Maybe save pitch for later?” Tora asked, wincing. “Not that Tora disagree, but if all done here, we should move to next spot, meh. All these color hurt Tora eyes.”

The big man nodded. “Sure, sure, we’ll talk it over later. I’m itchin’ to get a move on myself, ‘fore anythin’ else happens. Somethin’ funky in the air, might be.”

“Sound like plan to Poppi!”

After turning their backs on the sensational Sensorium, the four carefully made their way back through Radlandia in a tight-knit group, doing their best to ignore the distractions and sidestep the skateboarders. That last part turned out to be a little tougher than one might expect for Tora, who was so used to defense over evasion that when a boarder sped his way he actually tried to block rather than dodge him, which required Poppi to snatch him out of the way. Somehow they all managed to reach the train station in one piece, although it turned out it would be another five minutes or so before the next train arrived.

“While we wait, why not tell us about self?” Tora asked Bede after the squad seated themselves on some benches. “Tora want get know everyone better, so can call ‘friend’ for real-reals!”

His companion also seemed interested. “Poppi want know about Pokemon too, if not too much bother. Others in group also have them, and Poppi dabble for time, but it too much.” She poked Tora in the stomach. “Have hands full taking care of Masterpon!”

Tora shrugged. “With what we go through, it all we can do to take care of eachother, sometimes!”

The conversation didn’t last too long, and after a little more waiting the next Metro train arrived, heralded by the resounding meow of the giant tabby that pulled it. Everyone piled in, with Vandham last in since he needed to stoop to get inside the subway car. Dutifully the doors slid closed, and the train got underway. Where its next destination might be Tora couldn’t guess, other than that seastack city out in the bay, but if Radlandia was any indication his next port of call on the Blue Line would probably be on the water as well.

---

This time when the darkness faded, radiant sunlight flooded through the subway car’s windows, so bright and clear that Tora could see every smudge on the glass. This did not stop him pressing his face against the window as the train rattled one of the city’s many elevated tracks, revealing a sprawling hillside city of marble white among rich green jungle, its sloped, narrow streets reaching all the way down to the sparkling waters of the southern cove. A flotilla of schooners and trawlers plied that bay, dragging in shoals of fish to feed the ravenous fish markets, while higher up the manmade Wind Corridor provided the vast port with power, with handfuls of Gazuma buzzing around the tubes.

All too quickly the view vanished, blocked by the buildings that hemmed in the train track, and the cat pulled into the station. Tora, Poppi, and Vandham disembarked and headed over to the nearby balcony, drinking in the atmosphere. After their visit to Radlandia, the relative normalcy of this maritime metropolis was a welcome change, and though not exactly idyllic the place was nothing if not grand. Plus, this particular spot already seemed to be high up, and with clear skies overhead Poppi predicted a nominal reception from Alcamoth.

She turned to the others as the train rolled off. “Okay, Poppi walk just over there and make call. Please do not get lost.”

Tora gave a nonchalant shrug as he waddled over to the nearby store to check it out. “If Poppi insist!”

Vandham just smiled, gave her a salute, and went after Tora to keep an eye on him. As he turned though, his smile faded, and he kept a sharp eye on his surroundings, too. Though this city might look like a seaside paradise at first glance, something told the mercenary leader that there was more to the place than met the eye. It felt real in a way that Radlandia did not, and reality can be cruel.

While Poppi got in touch with a Moogle, Bede might become aware of a persistent whine around the train station, originating from an apartment building across the street that appeared to be quarantined. A faint odor helped guide his eyes to some of the windows higher up, where big, black bloodflies buzzed around their papery nests, lustrous as rubies. A closer inspection might reveal the sounds of moans and weeping from within.

The Under

Therion’s @Yankee, Jesse’s @Zoey Boey, Raz’s @TruthHurts22

Departure back through Queen’s Station took Jesse, Raz, and Therion to the next leg of their journey through the underground, and this time, rather than a somber affair carved from stone and decorated with dead shells, their train deposited them in a rather unremarkable subway platform. When the doors opened here a bunch of passengers filtered both in and out, creating a lot more activity than the trio saw in the realm of bugs right from the start. None appeared to be insectoid in nature either, although at the same time, the ratio of nonhumans present did seem rather high. After the assortment of strange environments they witnessed around Queen’s Station the new arrivals could only venture a guess at what they might find here, but with no other options than to climb the stairs (or escalator) up and out of the station, it wouldn’t be long until they found out.

At the top of the ascent they found a sprawling cavern of dark stone and cyan-blue water, bathed in the glow of bioluminescent fungal trees. Their ghostly effulgence shone down on ancient ruins and all manner of creatures, but over by this wall of the cave in particular plenty of warm yellow lamps lined the pathway that led up to the fabulous MTT Resort. Its presence probably made a number of those coming and going along this route its patrons, and the excited ambient chatter of guests eager for a luxurious stay or embittered by their departure backed that up. While a few other buildings stood along this curved upward road, most of them at least partially recessed into the wall, the Resort at its end towered over all of them, and one really couldn’t swing a stick without hitting some sort of advertisement for it. They all talked about healthy mineral pools, reinvigorating hot springs, fascinating wildlife, and all sorts of other amenities only a five-star resort like MTT could offer. Through the mists of Blackreach, the visitors could make out the vague outlines of a hallowed and nameless city, ominous with its long windows of crimson stained glass.

Haven

Sectonia’s @Archmage MC, Wonder Red’s @TruthHurts22, the Scout

After leaving the others behind to lick their wounds and mourn the dead, the Scout, Sectonia, and Red made their way to the next location. Having gotten a lot more excitement than they bargained for in Haven, which turned out to be really dangerous down at the ruined city’s ground level, everyone hoped that their next stop would be a much simpler one. Get in, ring up a Moogle, and get out, without as few hostile death squads as could be managed. It took a while for the train to make its way through the void to the Mint Line’s second destination, but not so long that when the orange-gold rays of dusk suddenly flooded through the windows, the three weren’t taken by surprise.

“Wot?” the Scout wondered, baffled but not at a loss for words. “It’s still mornin’, right? Why’s it look like the sun’s fixin’ t’go down, all’ve a-sudden?”

The others could offer no answer. They got off the train with no company but one another’s, and made their way through a spacious but quiet station, so wide-open and empty other than the benches for commuters to wait in and some potted plants that when the Metro cat took the train away, the new arrivals could hear their footfalls echo through the place. It made the Scout a little uneasy, as if he’d set foot in a ghost town, and after the attack in Haven he wasn’t about to take his hand off his assault rifle. When he and the other two got outside, however, they emerged into a sleepy city on the perpetual edge of dawn, full of people just going about their business without any signs of fear or unrest. At the bottom of the hill, on the opposite side of the colorful Market Street that wound down the hill like a giant ribbon, lay a small harbor on the edge of an ocean that reached the eastern horizon. Across the water to the northwest, meanwhile, lay a distant and mountainous coast. The three had wound up in a special place, outwardly rather ordinary, but more important than any of them realized.

World of Light

Aviary Biodome

Level 7 Big Band (68/70)
Raiden’s @XoXKieroBombXoX, Big Band, Peacock
Word Count: 1655

Dirt flew from beneath the tires of the all-terrain vehicle as it tore and drifted through the landscape, with few thoughts paid to preservation when a stage-three monster threat put survival on the line. All the bumps in the road forced the passengers to grab hold of the chassis to steady themselves, but even then it was a herky-jerky trip. It took enough effort for Band to keep his two and a half tons of steel chassis and brass contraptions from falling out of the Warthog, in fact, that a full thirty seconds or so passed before he happened to pick up on one rather important element of his new undertaking. Or, to be more precise, the lack thereof.

“...Wait just a minute, where’d that Raiden guy go?” he wondered, looking around the transport for any sign of the cyborg ninja. There wasn’t much vehicle to search, so it took just another moment for him to determine that Raiden was definitely not on board. Band furrows his bushy brows as he looked down at Peacock. “You see him anywhere, kid?”

The toon goon shrugged, the very picture on nonchalance. “Didn’t jump on, I guess. Maybe all that jabberin’ from these other maroons got him pissin’ his pants or somethin’.”

Band grumbled under his breath, reconsidering the situation. “Well…without the extra stoppin’ power, I dunno how involved we wanna get with this monster huntin’ deal.” As the Warthog’s right wheels ran over a stone he rocked forward to offset the balance, then continued in a lower voice. “And, y’know, I could go a good while before tanglin’ with any more giant monsters, just sayin’.”

To his surprise, Peacock nodded. “No kiddin’! I’m just about ready to blow this popsicle stand meself.”

“What, ya don’t wanna paint the jungle red, or however ya say it?” Band raised his eyebrow at her.

Flapping her gloved hand dismissively, Peacock shrugged again, this time more in a what can you do sort of way. “Eh, I like a good wallopin’ much as anyone, but we’ve been out in the middle o’ nowhere for ages. Sooner we get done rattlin’ around, the sooner I get back to what really matters!”

“Fair enough!” Band leaned forward toward Regina and Beckett. “Sorry ladies, me’n my little friend here ain’t cut out for big game huntin’ after all. Good luck though!”
Regina just rolled her eyes, but Beckett laughed in disbelief as she shook her head. “Well, what are you waiting for, then? Get off our truck!”

The daring duo obliged, and together leaped off the back of the moving vehicle. Peacock used her dress like an umbrella to slow her descent, while Band landed heavily, carving a furrow through the ground as he quickly slid to a stop. With a disagreeable grunt he stepped out of the disturbed earth and kicked his feet, one and then the other, to get the dirt off, and he in his new surroundings around as he did. From the looks of it, he and Peacock got off right before a large and misty marsh that the Warthog and its occupants soon disappeared into, sloshing through the scummy water when no wooden bridges blazed a trail between the spiky roots. While the area near the main base felt pretty balmy, this area felt a lot cooler, although no less humid. The fog that filled the place reflected the polar light that filtered through the dome high above. After a moment he identified the wall, still pretty far off. Though the edge of this artificial ecosystem seemed a lot closer than before, he and Peacock would still need to make their way on foot.

“Let’s skirt around the swamp,” he suggested. “Might add a couple minutes, but we won’t get all mudded up.”

Peacock made a show of shading her eyes as she scoped out the marshland and its clusters of tall, thin trees. “I’ll betcha a wad o’ dough mud ain’t the worst thing in there, pops! Whole scene’s straight outta some horror flick, prolly lousy with monsters!”

“Not takin’ that bet,” Band sighed as he turned to go. “‘Cause I believe ya.”

They hiked for a ways, giving the tangle of cattails and mangroves at the water’s edge a wide berth lest any well-hidden ambush predators take them by surprise. Andy Anvil and Tommy Ten Tons showed up both to bolster the group’s numbers and to provide extra deterrence by doing their best to look very fierce and angry. Their boss Peacock waltzed along with a smile on her face, but the fact that she kept her trusty revolver in hand told Band that she might be a little more nervous than she looked. Meanwhile, the detective took the rear, his eyes perpetually narrowed as he studied his surroundings.

This environment, he quickly found, was far from empty. Loads of creatures of all shapes and sizes, though typically small, called this place home, and though it didn’t teem with activity, enough moved and made noise in his vicinity that the trek kept him very busy. Whenever something jumped, dove, croaked, or called out, he needed to zero in on it and decide whether or not it meant trouble, all within the span of a second. Most of the time it turned out to be nothing, like a stork lunging down to grab a frog, or a couple bulbdogs playing. When they spotted a young duck trip and fall into a patch of worm grass and get eaten alive, they knew to steer well clear. At one point something huge moved in his peripheral vision, so he whirled around with both brass knuckles deployed and ready to brawl, but the bizarre creatures that wandered into view barely acknowledged his presence. Though they resembled moose or deer in part, the unsettling beasts towered over the quagmire on freaky, spindly spider legs, and large globules hung from their bodies, like half-melted fudgesicles in the sun. When it became clear that neither group wished to bother the other, they went their own separate ways.

Noises of gunfire and destruction echoed across the marsh from afar, but the only danger Band and Peacock found came in the form of a pack of snaggletoothed reptiles they found sunning themselves on some rocks around a river that fed into the swamp. When the detective traced the river’s path up toward the source, he found himself with a mostly clear view all the way to the outer wall. Unfortunately for his group’s plans to quietly sneak by the lizard pack, the hunters caught their scent, and rose from their stones to approach the newcomers curiously.

Peacock held up her revolver. “Ya want I should bump ‘em off, or what?”

“They don’t seem friendly, but maybe I can sing ‘em a different tune,” Band mused. “If it’s gonna be uphill, might as well avoid an uphill battle.”

As the predators closed in, hissing at the intruders, the detective deployed his instruments. The brass showed up in bulk, trumpets and trombones and even his sax, and Band began to blow. Rather than weave his usual melodies, he played a flat, simple tune, less for the sake of beauty and more for the sake of noise. Surprised by the alarming racket, the reptiles froze in place for a few moments, then suddenly backed off. Band let go of his mouthpiece to grin at Peacock. “Looks like it’s working!”

From the swamp erupted a Royal Ludroth, screaming like an eagle as a ton of water shook free from its spongy main. A handful of its subordinates joined it, and the other lizards rounded on the new threat drawn out by Band’s playing. From the bipeds’ burrow emerged the tyrannosaur alpha to contend with the invasion, adding to the chaos. The detective himself stowed his instruments in an instant, his eyes wide. “...Think I’ll skip the encore, c’mon!” He grabbed Peacock before she could start blasting the Ludroth and charged off as fast as his servos could carry him, leaving the reptile rumble behind as they fled through a section of the jungle suddenly alive with activity.

Only once they reached the outer wall did the team stop running. Band doubled over, breathing heavily. “Whew, mighta blown a gasket or somethin’ with that one.” As he tried to compose himself he looked over at Peacock. “Y’alright, kid?”

“I ain’t even winded, old timer,” she boasted.

“Good.” Band straightened up. The bottommost part of the Biodome’s dome appeared to be a wall, with the less secure glass only starting a ways open. He looked one way, then the other, but couldn’t see any way through. “Trouble is, how do we get outside?”

Peacock, who’d fallen into arms of her minions in exhaustion after making her boast, gave a chuckle as she tipped her hat. “Leave it to me!”

Once back on her feet she reached into her pocket, digging more and more of her mechanical arm inside until finally she brightened up and pulled out a small, floppy black disk. She plopped it on the ground, where it swelled to become a pitch-black pit, and jumped in only for it to close after her. Even if he’d seen this stunt a dozen times by now, the application of cartoon logic in real life never ceased to amaze Band. With a sigh he sat down on a fallen log facing inward to keep watch for any sign of trouble while Peacock called in the Moogle outside.

The Chalk Prince, the Prisoner, and Frisk

Frisk’s @Majoras End, the Prisoner’s @XoXKieroBombXoX

Albedo waited in patient silence as his companions perused the ruined camp. With her attention of the wellbeing of her new spherical friend, Frisk more or less skimmed the notes before putting her effort toward making the Spheal more comfortable, while the Prisoner rummaged through the wreckage far enough from her that his infectious miasma couldn’t cause a problem for the others. That Joserf had been here recently Albedo didn’t doubt, but with no sign of the man itself, he didn’t care much about anything that might be found amongst his leavings. Instead, he just stared at the others as he went about their business.

It really was cold in here. This cavern more than made up for the lack of windchill by virtue of its total insulation from the sun, meager as its heat might be in the Frozen Highlands. No frigid flurries or buffeting winds lashed against the explorers, stinging their skin or pushing them around, but the stillness in here was cruel in its own way. So too was it terribly dark. The blue glow of the flowers and crystals provided only the barest level of light, turning everything hazy and indistinct. When someone’s passage disturbed the plants, jagged shadows took flight, making anyone of sound mind as psychologically uncomfortable as they were physically. Any real adventurers in such a hostile place like this would have brought their own sources of light and heat, but Frisk and the Prisoner took no such precautions. They just followed Albedo’s direction and suggestions, heading into places ever more forbidding and remote, places so deep and dark that if something were to happen, their spirits might never, ever again see the light of day. And yet, they did so without question. Who, after all, knew better than he?

Who knew Dragonspine well enough to pick out certain landmarks and the paths between them, and offer sound advice about its dangers, but not well enough that he could go without a guide?

Who knew enough about Pokemon to tug on the heartstrings of one who loved them, no matter which body that heart might be in, and keep an eye out for them despite not knowing what they looked like? And earn the terror of a creature he’d never met, after it immediately warmed up to someone else?

Who could exploit the specific weaknesses of Hel-walkers and Draugr well enough to keep multiple at bay and kill them if need be, but not well enough to even try saving a defenseless bystander, or to call out for help from separated allied fighters? Who could escape with barely a scratch, but use up half the team’s healing, leaving them with nothing should things go south later?

Who sealed the only way in to a cavern with no other visible exits, then steered the others to a high-up corner with just the answers they were looking for?

Who commanded powers over ice, despite possessing a Geo vision?

And who, after Albedo went to lengths to buy a heavy coat with which he might ward off the cold, an experience that helped bring him closer to Linkle, emerged from the avalanche to claim to be unbothered by winter’s sting?

The patient watcher standing behind Frisk waited for her to put her Spheal sack on, and then made his move.

He dashed toward her back, a longsword of crystallized Cryo forming in his hand, long enough to skewer both targets in a single thrust. ”No, stop!” came an explosive yell from beside her, and the Prisoner lunged to get in the way. Used to defending with shield only, the Prisoner went on the offensive, bringing his balanced blade around to strike before the ice sword could pierce through. ”What are you-!”

The edge suddenly bounced back, the metal vibrating from the impact. His eye opened wide to see a coating of ice on Albedo’s left hand, so hard and thick that it worked as an impromptu shield. In reply the alchemist pivoted the Prisoner’s way, and in a ruthless riposte pierced his swordpoint through the animated corpse’s chest. As of anticipation of the lack of finality that blow would have for the Prisoner’s unliving body, ice spread out from the point of impact, initiating a freeze. ”Ugh!” the Prisoner growled, angry now. He smacked his attacker with an infectious headbutt, causing him to let go of his sword and stumble back, and unleashed a giant swing. Spikes of ice shot up around Albedo to take the hit, and as the Prisoner’s sword smashed through the barrier, he found no sign of his opponent.

Not until a flash of bright blue light made him look up. In the cover of the icy mist Albedo had jumped up into the darkness, and now a giant snowflake glyph shone behind him. A deluge of icicles hurtled down, stabbing into everything in their path. If the others did not jump from the camp ledge down to the cave’s top floor, they would be skewered along with the camp’s remains.